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Hidalgo Falls River Festival

April 8-9, 2006
Hidalgo Falls on the Brazos River
Near Navasota, Texas

 trpa
The fifth annual Hidalgo Falls River Festival was held on Saturday-Sunday, April 8-9, 2006 at the TRPA Hidalgo Falls property on the Brazos River near Navasota. About 250 paddlers and spectators attended. Dealer reps and outfitters had boats and gear available for demos on moving water, and some boaters came as early as Thursday to enjoy the river and camp in the upstream and downstream campgrounds.

Events will include a 28-mile downriver race from Koppe Bridge Landing south of College Station to Hidalgo on Saturday morning, a "Boatercross" head-to-head elimination race through the rapids late Saturday afternoon, a concert and auction on Saturday night, and on Sunday a whitewater giant slalom race through the islands in the Falls, a whitewater rodeo, and a more leisurely 3.5-mile float trip from Hidalgo to Hwy 105. During the downriver race on Saturday, festival goers can demo different kinds of boats, watch paddling videos, and play in the rapids. A festival t-shirt is included in the $12 festival admission fee; children under 12 are admitted free. Registration for the TCRA downriver race on Saturday costs $20 before March 24; after that date registration is $25. The registration fee includes admission to the festival site, the concert, camping, and a special racer version of the festival t-shirt.

For a map of the giant slalom race, click here.

Directions to Hidalgo Falls: http://people.tamu.edu/~sdaniel/location.html

To get into the TRPA property, you normally have to meet someone at the locked gate or be certified (and thus get the gate combination). We will meet visitors at the gate when they arrive.

Here are some pictures (courtesy: Andrew Stone and Skip Morris) from this year's festival:

alternate road campground
 campground
Lower (Main) Campground

campground
 Campground canoe put-in
Lower Campground
 Vendors
 Upper Put-In near the Slide

Morning mist on the rapid surfing surfing
Morning Mist on the Rapid
 On the upstream wave

rapid rapid
View of rapid from upstream near the Slide
 View of rapid from downstream


surfing canoe
 playing
Upstream rapid surf: even at low water, there is stuff to play on

concert
 concert
Saturday Night Concert Audience
 Concert and Auction Saturday Night

concert
 auction
Saturday Night Concert by DubTex, accompanied by showing of Texas Whitewater on screen
 Sunday Gear Auction

Highlights:

All proceeds benefit the Hidalgo Falls Improvements Fund.

Sponsors:

Thanks to: Special thanks: Riverfest logo by Ben McCue

For pictures of the first festival in 2001, click here.

For pictures of the 2004 festival, click here.

For information on the 2006 festival, contact the following people:

Saturday downriver race: Charles Lewis (calewis@valornet.com)
Sunday float trip: James Williams 979-776-5530 (no email)
Slalom race and whitewater rodeo: Bruce Litton (b.litton@earthlink.net)
Exhibits, demos, and classes: James Graham (james@paddlesports.com)
Overall coordination: Steve Daniel (sdaniel@people.tamu.edu)

Information about the location of Hidalgo Falls, TRPA ownership, pictures, etc. can be found at the Hidalgo Falls website:

http://people.tamu.edu/~sdaniel/hidalgo.html

Free primitive camping is available at the TRPA property (limited toilet and water facilities available). For information on Navasota motels, contact Steve Daniel.