If you’ve been thinking of buying a kayak or canoe, you may want to hold off one more week.
This coming weekend, June 11th and 12th, is the Aurora Paddlesports Festival to be held at Phillips Park in Aurora, Illinois.
There are far too many things going on at the event for me to start re-listing them here. Better that you just click on the link above and spend a little time looking over their site.
This is a great opportunity to try before you buy, as well as to take advantage of some training that will be offered throughout the event.
There are a number of paddling events and trips also scheduled. This will be worth checking out if you are seriously considering the purchase of some kind of paddle craft any time soon.
Speaking of which, shop local, buy local. You won’t get this kind of attention and information from the Big Box stores.
There are a number of local shops in the area that may be worth visiting. Down my way in Yorkville, there’s the grandaddy of canoe shops, Freeman’s Sports.
One newcomer to Yorkville is the Geneva Kayak Center, which opened the Yorkville Outdoor Center along the new Marge Cline Whitewater Course.
Another newcomer to the area is up in Aurora. The Paddle and Trail of Aurora opened shop recently right in downtown Aurora.
Visit their sites for a considerable list of events being held on a day-to-day basis.
I have no doubt there are more all over the area, but these are the ones in my neck of the woods. I’m sure more will be at the Aurora Paddlesports Festival. I think it’s important to support the local shops. Best way to keep them in business is to visit and buy from them whenever possible.
This year Aurora’s Art in the Park will be running in conjunction with the Aurora Paddlesports Festival. The two combined makes for quite a weekend.
With the weather cooling down to the mid 70’s and no rain in the forecast for the weekend, for now, it would be worth it to pay these events a visit. When the kids get bored, don’t forget that Phillips Park also has a zoo, pretty nice visitor center and a family aquatic center.
Plenty to do for everyone.
