Thousands of people attended the third “Go Outside Festival” held last weekend at River’s Edge in Roanoke under bright and sunny fall skies. Joe Hanning, Marketing & Outreach coordinator for the Roanoke City Parks and Recreation Department, was very happy with the turnout.
“We anticipated about 10,000 people attending and while we do not have a final count, we all think we have far exceeded that number. We had all walks of life enjoying the Anthem GoFest this year including what seemed to be an uptick in families [with] children and a really solid turnout from dog owners with their K9 friends thanks to our ever-popular dog activities and specialty vendors.”
One of the large draws was the Ultimate Air Dogs. Paul Cook from Richmond entered Lou his 2-year-old Wheaton Terrier in the dock diving competition.
“He doesn’t even need a ball; he’ll just jump in,” said Cook. “He doesn’t care about the ball. He just likes running and jumping.” It was the third time they had tried dock diving. “The first time he did it, he won a blue ribbon for the Novice Division, which is under 10 feet. And last year, he actually jumped 20 feet, so his personal best is 20.”
Over at the Haywire Action Sports Big Airbag, people were jumping, from 16 feet into a giant airbag. It was the Vermont company’s first time at the Roanoke show.
“It’s the only one of its kind in the whole U. S.,” said Chris, one of the employees of the company.
He’s an ex-professional snowboarder who decided that he wanted to continue action sports and show people how to safely learn new outdoor skills. “We actually ski and snowboard into the bag as well as BMX Mountain bike into the bag. We fall from 60 feet, but the public jumps from 16.”
Regina Hazelrigg from Roanoke was one of those who took the leap. “It’s a thrill. If you’re scared of heights, it’s just one of those where you just got to go for it. You don’t really look at the edge; you just kind of go.” She says the landing was surprisingly soft.
Hanning said the live music also brought a lot of people out to the two and a half day festival.
The highlight of the event for many was the Hackensaw Boys concert on Friday night that had over 1,000 people dancing and cheering in front of the stage. The band members really played to the crowd by unplugging for an acoustical set around the campfire for an up close and personal experience.
Shawna Poole from Roanoke was accompanied by Charlee her Siberian Husky. “I think anything that’s animal oriented around here is just such a great thing because I live downtown. It’s so much fun – there are so many dog lovers in this area and we have such a great outdoor location. It’s nice to have some diversity – and it’s not just going downtown and sitting at restaurants, it’s actually getting out and meeting other people and enjoying the outdoors which is a blast with our pups. I love being able to see all the local things and I definitely get to meet a lot of new people when I come to these.”
By the looks of things a lot of other Roanokers agree.
– Beverly Amsler
