Welcome to the American Whitewater Gauley River Festival presented by Subaru, the paddling world’s biggest party!

The Gauley River Festival is a critical fundraiser for American Whitewater and is our largest fundraising event.  All proceeds from the festival support American Whitewater’s conservation and access work throughout the Southeast. Come out and join us for a weekend of great paddling, live entertainment, and the infamous silent auction. Check out highlights of this year’s event.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

• Festival Campground Opens  

Friday, September 19, 2008

• Gauley River Release
• Ladies on the Lower G: Join Girls At Play and NARR as they host a paddle down the Lower Gauley River.
• Volunteer Recognition Dinner: American Whitewater volunteers are welcome to join American Whitewater staff and board members for a thank you dinner. Volunteers will be treated to dinner in the festival site dining hall.
• Music from the Halftime String Band: As the sun starts to set the music starts to crank at Gauley Festival.  Join us on Friday night for some classic blue grass music and dancing from the Halftime String Band.
• Film Premier: film TBD
• Music from the Halftime String: Enjoy more great blue grass music and dancing into the night!

Saturday, September 20th

Saturday is the busiest day of Gauley Festival with all sorts of activities including:

• AW membership Drive: Join or renew your AW membership at Gauley Festival and get hooked up with a sweet bag full of goodies from American Whitewater’s partners.  Every member will be entered in a raffle to win one of three new kayaks.
• Boat Raffle: A brand new boat or the brand new boat of your choice? You can’t lose! Make sure you don’t miss out on the boats being raffled and auctioned off this year. You will receive a raffle ticket for joining AW or renewing your membership for a chance to win one of the three boats we are raffling for the membership drive. You will also have the opportunity to bid on several boats in the “silent auction”. Get in on the action. . .don’t miss Gauley Fest and your chance for one of these great boats:

o                Dagger – boat of choice

o                Jackson – boat of choice

o                Liquid Logic – boat of choice

o                Pyranha – boat of choice

o                Riot - Thunder

o                Wavesport – boat of choice

o    Fluid via Rocky Mountain Kayak - boat of choice

o    Liquid Logic - Rock, Paper, Scissor Challenge - boat of choice

• Silent Auction: The Gauley Festival silent auction is your opportunity to pick up some great whitewater and outdoor gear for a great deal.  All the proceeds from the silent auction benefit American Whitewater’s river stewardship work. 
• Music:  Gauley Festival is as much about music as it is about boating. You can find details about the bands on the Gauley Festival events page. This year we have a great line up of music that includes:

o                Halftime String Band (Friday)

o                Piano Bob

o                Weedhawks

o                The Mavens  

Be Part of the Fun!
Just like most great experiences; it takes a team to make Gauley Fest into the premiere event that it is! Lots of fun and exciting projects happen the week before Gauley Fest to get the festival grounds ready for the adventure and we need many hands on deck Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to keep everything running smoothly. Please sign up for two hours (or more) and become a part of the Gauley Fest Volunteer Team!  It's a fun and easy way for you to be a critical part of an amazing festival.

For your time you'll be given a gorgeous "volunteers only"  T-shirt, invitation to a private "volunteers only" dinner (with great beer!), tickets (one ticket per shift) to the "volunteers only" boat raffle AND the feeling of knowing that you make it happen!

Want to volunteer as a group? No problem! We have jobs for everyone! Email the volunteer coordinator, Stacey, with your availability and she'll get you on the schedule. Happy paddling and see ya there!

Check here for more information on Gauley Festival