Mississippi River not cooperating, but Riverfest is officially open in La Crosse for 2024

There may be high water all along the Mississippi, but La Crosse’s Riverfest is still open for celebration as of Wednesday morning.

The yearly summer festival which was launched in 1983 has been kicked off for 2024 with the traditional flag raising at Riverside Park, involving many past Commodores and their First Mates.

The parts of Riverfest actually involving the waters of the Mississippi won’t be happening this year. Well, there’s just one part, really.

The River City Water Ski Team had to cancel its part of the show, because the Mississippi River is too high and is set to crest at 15 feet Wednesday.

Past events on the river haven’t happened in a few years, including flyboarding — where water jets on your feet simulate floating — and pole vaulting off a barge in the Mississippi.

“We actually have trouble finding a barge that we can rent, basically that business has taken off exponentially,” Riverfest board member Brad Pitel said. “So, when the barges are being used, we don’t have that opportunity.”

Cancelling events hasn’t happened often, and sometimes they’re not even river-related. In 2018, the July 4 fireworks had to happen on July 5.

“There was a massive storm that blew through with like 60-70 mph winds right through La Crosse,” Pitel said.

Riverfest runs through Saturday, with multiple big musical acts.

Josh Ross, Drake Milligan and Blue Collar 40 kick things off. The finale Saturday night is Country Line Drive. Check the full schedule of events here.