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River Ruckus, Team Haverhill’s summer street festival, takes downtown Haverhill by storm Saturday.
Most activities take place in Riverfront Park in Haverhill’s Riverfront Cultural District and along Washington Street, which will be closed to traffic for the day. Features include live music from 92.5 the River on the River Ruckus stage behind The Tap at 100 Washington St., children’s activities in Columbus Park, food trucks and a variety of demonstrations capped off by a fireworks show over the river at 8 p.m.
The fun gets underway at noon. The Kids Zone opens with Massachusetts Audubon’s Joppa Flats traveling touch tank set up in Columbus Park on Washington Street near the Haverhill Train Station. Other kid-friendly activities managed by the Greater Haverhill YMCA include tie dye t-shirt making, children’s books giveaways, face painting, a bouncy house and a balloon artist.
Also at noon, the Haverhill High School Crew Team shows off its technical skills with a demonstration in the Merrimack River off Riverfront Park.
The Community Corner at 43 Washington St. features a basketball handling demonstration at 1:30 p.m. followed by a martial arts demonstration and then a boxing demonstration.
Creative Haverhill offers paper flower making from noon to 3 p.m. at 45 Washington St. Docents from Historic New England talks about Haverhill’s history at 2 p.m. at 41 Washington St. Artist Jeff Grassie discusses the process of restoring the Essex Street Gateway Mural, downtown’s largest art installation, at 2:30 p.m. at 25 Essex St.
The River Ruckus Beer and Wine Garden along with local food vendors opens at noon at Riverfront Park for the duration of the event.
Ariana Manzano, a junior at Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School, opens the live 92.5 the River stage with the national anthem at 12:30 p.m. She is followed by the Celtic music group Clandestine at 1 p.m. Also on the concert bill are Ava Valianti at 2 p.m., Nate Perry and Ragged Company at 3:15 p.m., The Tano Jones Revelry at 4:30 p.m. and The Strumbellas at 6:15 p.m.
The River Ruckus Classic Car Show is a first-come, first-served event for 50 cars. Participants can pre-register at RiverRuckus.com. Pre-registration does not guarantee a spot but it saves time so owners don’t have to sign in when they arrive. Washington Street at Washington Square opens to display cars at 10:45 a.m. Prizes are awarded to the top three favorites. Antiques, hot rods and other specialty cars are welcome.
River Ruckus runs rain or shine. Information and schedule changes may be found online at RiverRuckus.com.