NEWPORT — The summer event Aquafest will be swimming through international Lake Memphremagog and Newport this Saturday, July 27.
Aquafest is a community tradition and brings together many community partners.
One of the highlights of this year’s parade is the JeKulu Dance and Drum Theater. A traditional West African Performance and educational ensemble bringing the Spirit of West African Music and Dance to New England since 1993.
“Here in Newport, lake is life,” local resident and Parks and Recreation Director Jessica Booth said. “Some might say that Lake Memphremagog is our identity here in the city. Aquafest is an opportunity for us to celebrate all the things that make life on the shoreline so special.”
The schedule is as follows:
5:30 a.m. Kingdom Swim Begins // Prouty Beach
9:00 a.m. Newport Farmers Market //Gardner Park
10:00 a.m. Blue Art Exhibit Opens // Mac Center
10:00 a.m. Joshua House Benefit Yard Sale // 44 2nd Street
1:00 p.m. Aquafest Parade // Main Street
3:00 p.m. Cornhole Tournament // Gardner Park
7:00 p.m. Street Dance – Last Kid Picked // Main Street
“Aquafest is another fantastic Newport event celebrating the beautiful lake we live on and our community,” local entrepreneur Hannah Cornelius said. “It gets everyone together and reminds us who our neighbors are and that we are all in this together.”
You big city folks in Newport with yer street lamps, cement sidewalks and highfalutin ways can have yer Aquafest, all crowded together shoulder to shoulder with strangers dancing to voodoo music…Give me the good ole country air any day. In fact, my neighbor just spread cow manure on his fields. Now if you ain’t smelled fresh cow manure on a still country night, well then, you just haven’t lived…Besides, I don’t like the sound of that “CornHole Tournament” at 3:00pm, cus you city folks can have some pretty preverted ideas of what having fun is.