KV Chamber Announces End To Whatever Family Festival

After four decades, the festival that signified the kickoff to Summer in Central Maine, has come to an end.

In a press release, the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce announced the end of Augusta's Whatever Family Festival.

The press release goes on to explain the origins of the event.   The multi-week long event started in the late 1970s as an Augusta to Gardiner race on the Kennebec River.  Participants in the Whatever Race could use ANYTHING as a boat, as long it didn't have a motor.  The Whatever Race quickly became Whatever Week.  That week eventually grew to the three week long Whatever Family Festival, which started in early June and continued through July 4th.

Eventually, the festival included dozens of events including Kennebec River Day, Kennebec River Brewfest, and the city's Independence Day celebration.

Just because the Whatever Family Festival is coming to an end, the chamber is still dedicated to furthering community events that promote the amazing area where we live. One of these projects is the 7th Up Biz Tour, which the press release describes as "a program that exposes students to all the great businesses and career opportunities that are right here in the Kennebec Valley"

They also intended to grow the Kennebec River Brewfest.

The chamber suggests business who have participated in the Whatever Festival continue to celebrate our area by creating floats for the 4th of July parade.

I think we're all a little sad to see the Whatever Family Festival end, but we're looking forward to the amazing events that will come next.

For more, visit the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce website