Viroqua, Wis. – Organizers of the first ever Ridge’s & Rivers Book Festival in Viroqua say turnout for the event far exceeded expectations and they could not be happier with the attendance over the weekend. No exact numbers have been put together yet but judging by turnout and feedback, they say they are overjoyed with the first year.
“The Ridges & Rivers Book Festival exceeded all of my expectations,” said Trina Erickson. “I’m so proud we were able to hold true to our mission of celebrating reading, writing, creativity, and community.”
Erickson is the Director of Viroqua’s McIntosh Memorial Library and co-founded the event with Lisa Henner of the Driftless Writing Center. The two spent over a year designing the event, securing funding and pulling in volunteers. They started with a small group at the beginning, grew the core group of volunteers to 19, and recruited scores more for the day of the event.
The event spanned three days over the weekend and kicked off with former Wisconsin Poet Laurette Dasha Kelly Hamilton’s performance of “Makin Cake” at the Historic Temple Theater on Friday night. The performance focused on history, race, culture, and class. Part history lesson, part social science revelation, Makin’ Cake is a short story about America’s sweet tooth and pathway to salvation. And everyone got cupcakes at the end. All in all there were 18 authors that performed or gave readings/talks throughout the weekend.
On Saturday the center of the event was the book sellers throughout the McIntosh Memorial Library lobby, Western Technical College and at the Viroqua Eagles Club just across Rock Ave. There were also “Book Garden” locations at a number downtown businesses and authors reading at other locations throughout town. There was something for everyone, workshops on how to write, activities for kids, waffles from the Waffle Wagon for breakfast, Lion burgers for lunch, a magician and live music to end the day at the Eagles Club. All the events combined to create a buzz throughout the downtown with lots of pedestrian foot traffic and people hustling from venue to venue.
Just before the last event at the Temple Theater on Saturday evening, Wisconsin Department of Tourism Representative Andrew Nussbaum presented the organizers of the event with a $10,000 check for a Joint Effort Marketing (JEM) grant to help offset the cost of marketing the festival in three states. Henner and Erickson said they landed several substantial grants to get the festival established and pay for some of the specific event. They included grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Arts Midwest, Wisconsin Humanities as well as support from the City of Viroqua Tourism, Vernon County Tourism and numerous businesses and individuals.
Organizers say the event accomplished what they were hoping for and then some.
“This event was centered on books and art and story but we really wanted an event that would bring the community together,” Henner said. “All the community, not just one slice, but all parts of the community and I think we accomplished that. There was something for the person who loves history and WWII stories to genealogy to kids and poetry. We tried very hard to have something for the whole community.”
The festival concluded on Sunday with a celebration of poetry as April is National Poetry Month. The final events included a community pancake breakfast from 8:00-10:00am at the Viroqua United Methodist Church. Poetry focused events at the McIntosh Memorial Library, a poetry reading at Encore, followed by a community open mic. The winners of the art contest were announced on Sunday and they were on display Encore.
First place in the art contest “The Reading Tree” by Mary Wagner
Second place in the art contest, a painting by Kathy Wheeler.
Henner and Erickson reported that the author readings at the Vernon County History Center, Viroqua City Hall, Western Technical College, and the Historic Temple Theater were almost all filled to capacity with some reporting standing room only.
“That was so incredible for a first year event,” said Erickson. “You never know what to expect the first time around and to get that kind of participation the first year is so rewarding and tells us we have really hit on something people want to attend.”
The event was also designed to get people into businesses and the community with venues throughout town and the businesses themselves including at Metaphysical Graffiti, Salt and Tipple Restaurant, Parrish Music, Valley Stewardship Network, Magpie Gelato and Tangled Hickory Wine Bar.
That strategy looks like it paid off in a big way with the Viroqua Chamber and businesses reporting a great weekend of sales.
“The energy in the community during the Ridges and Rivers Book Festival was electric,” said Chris Clemens, Executive Director for the Viroqua Chamber. “The impact that the festival had on our business community was really incredible, with some businesses reporting their highest grossing sales days of all time. The Viroqua Chamber is proud to have participated in the event’s planning and execution and we’re hopeful that this can become a recurring event in our community.”
When asked about whether or not they will make the event an annual one, Henner and Erickson said they want to take some some time to assess the event, talk with their volunteers before they make any firm decisions, but they also said they certainly have the blueprint for success and a second year is not out of the question.
To watch several of the authors that spoke at the City Hall Community Room on Saturday including Eric Dregni, Jane Schmidt or J. Ryan Stradel, or to watch the poetry reading at the Encore on Sunday, you can watch them on the Ridges & Rivers Facebook page.
Thank you Trina and Lisa for your amazing foresight. Thank you to all the volunteers and the community who also helped. It was an amazing event and a great opportunity for our town.