Mostly sunny finish to Riverfest interrupted by midday downpour on the 4th

For a brief time on the 4th of July, a musical group called Driving Buddies was the biggest attraction at La Crosse’s Riverfest.

Shortly after 2 p.m. on Tuesday, a sudden rainstorm forced plenty of festgoers inside the tent where the group was performing. The storm threat and concerns about lightning put an early end to the show.

Bud Loomis, the Riverfest Commodore for 2004, sought shelter in the tent, and noted that weather concerns also caused an early shutdown on Monday night.

“It got so bad, ” said Loomis, “but the worst part is it got so windy, that things were being blown over and stuff, and they just shut ‘er down.” The entertainment on Monday ended around 10 p.m. because of the weather. On Tuesday, the heavy rains let up after about 30 minutes, and skies cleared up quickly.

Puddles of water were left in the park for a short time after the rain, but people began filling the festgrounds in early evening, to get ready for the riverfront fireworks. A large electric fan was used to dry off an outdoor wrestling ring shortly following the shower.

On July 4th of 2018, a midday storm forced Riverfest to postpone the fireworks show for one night. The fest was cancelled completely in 2020 during the COVID epidemic.

This year marked the 40th celebration of Riverfest, running five days from last Friday through Tuesday, the 4th.