LEWISTON — This year’s Lewiston Auburn RiverFest kicked into high gear Friday morning with a kickball tournament at Simard-Payne Memorial Park to start the two-day event.

“We had 14 kickball teams. Fourteen unique businesses came out to build skills with their team and employees,” Katie Palmer, director of events and operations at Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, said. “They set up all these pop-up tents and brought coolers of food. They really went all out to support the tournament.”

Players scramble for a ball kicked high in the air during Friday’s kickball tournament during the first day of RiverFest 2024 at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston. There will be a regatta Saturday morning as well as other activities at the park and on the Androscoggin River between Lewiston and Auburn. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

JD Samson of Prime360 was at the festival early Friday morning for the day’s first kickball game against Lydia Media. “We’re here today with our team and clients. It’s great to be out in the community,” Samson said. “We heard Pinky D’s coming here later. We’ll hang out for the poutine.”

Kahdiana Knight of Gritty McDuff’s Brew Pub team was all about winning the kickball tournament. “I’m looking forward to the team winning, honestly” Knight said.

While festivalgoers and kickball teams were happy with the day’s breeze and lower humidity, many were also glad to see the Androscoggin River back in its full glory.

Jim Boulet, a lifelong Lewiston resident, said he was excited that the festival was advocating for recreation with a clean Androscoggin.

“Back in the day, the river smelled bad because of the mills. My wife and I take walks here all the time. Now, it is enjoyable,” Boulet said.

Androscoggin has come a long way from those days, Aaron Buccheri of Auburn said. “I think there’s a stigma around (Androscoggin) that shouldn’t be,” he added.

Buccheri and his wife, Annette, run the Nutty Netties Café in Auburn. “There’s plenty of opportunity for activities to go on, boating and kayaking and to be able to explore. You don’t necessarily have to venture 30 minutes outside of Lewiston to do it. You can just get straight to it in your own backyard,” Buccheri said.

Nutty Netties is also sponsoring the festival’s first ever whoopie pie eating contest on Friday.

“We decided not only to do a whoopie pie eating contest, but to do it even better and donate all the proceeds that we generate to Kaydenz Kitchen,” Buccheri said. “All the registration fees, the baskets that we’re going to raffle off, all the proceeds, 100%, go to Kaydenz Kitchen.”

Shayne MacFarlane pours water onto teammate Justin Juray on Friday afternoon during the first day of RiverFest 2024 at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston. Their team, Just-In-Time-Recreation, was taking a break after their second game during the festival’s kickball tournament after a 2-0 start. There will be a regatta Saturday morning on the Androscoggin River between Lewiston and Auburn, as well as other water and land activities. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Festivalgoers were able enjoy free guided boat tours and paddling along the Androscoggin.

“The water is a lot calmer this year,” said Tanner Webb of Webb & Sons Rentals. “Last year, we got so much rain that the river was cruising. It was flowing really fast, very rough water. Having the new dock starter is great.”

This year’s dock starter made it even easier for folks to begin their adventure on the Androscoggin. A little push was all they needed, Webb said. No risk of their vessels tipping or having to swim to get things going.

“Last year, at this very same park, we celebrated Clean Water Act. It was really championed here in Maine,” Lewiston’s Mayor Carl Sheline said. “This is a great community event. The kickball tournament gets more popular year after year. I’m looking forward to a great regatta tomorrow,” he added.

Saturday’s river regatta is set to begin at 9 a.m. and run until noon.

“There’s 17 rowers that will be on, whether they’ll be in single or double vessels. After the regatta, there will be an open paddle palooza,” Palmer said. “People with different types of vessels will be able hop on the water and enjoy the Androscoggin. There will be a couple of other little pop-ups happening on Saturday, but not as big and crazy because all of our attention will be on the river.”

“We want to celebrate and advocate for the Androscoggin,” said Shanna Cox, president and CEO of the LA Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.

A full schedule of Saturday’s events is available at discoverlamaine.com/the-RiverFest/.