Sunday, June 9th
Boat Parade 1 p.m.
Pet Parade on Town Stage 2 p.m.
Beer & Wine Garden on Town Hill (Saturday & Sunday)
Click the links for the application forms for Food Vendors, Arts & Crafts participants, and for Grand Feature Parade entries.
The annual Potomac River Festival has been taking place for 60 years in Colonial Beach. It's a weekend-long event in mid-June with fun for the whole family. The gentle river breezes and warm sunshine make for a great time as you take in all the fun-filled events, sights and sounds of this wonderful festival.
There's a Carnival that usually arrives on the Wednesday before Festival weekend.
Friday
The Potomac River Festival usually kicks off at 7:30pm with the Colonial Beach Volunteer Fire Department Parade. If you've never been, you should know that it's quite a sight, as well as quite an earful! Those engines will have their horns and sirens blaring, and lights flashing. Video clips can be found on our YouTube Channel. The Miss Colonial Beach Pageant also takes place during the Friday evening festivities.
Saturday
The Boardwalk Arts and Crafts Fair typically starts at 10:00am, on the boardwalk of course, and goes until 5:00pm. You'll find various vendors with all sorts of wares such as food, art, jewelry, wood sculptures, yard ornaments, furniture, antiques, sewn items, dolls, candles and other knick-knacks. Here's a tip: Buy it when you see it, because if you come back for it later, you won't be able to find it.
DJ on Town Hill provides music for your listening pleasure. Heck, you can even get up and dance if you feel like it. Oftentimes, line dancing will take place and it's a blast!
Grand Feature Parade and entertainment and is so much fun! You'll see some great bands and floats as they make their way through the streets from their beginning point at the High School. Sometimes there's a Majorette competition on the schedule, too.
Live Bands on Town Stage will provide the music for an enjoyable afternoon and evening concert.
A grand display of Fireworks cap off a great day of festival fun and usually begin at 9:00pm. Get there early as the beach area fills up quick! There's always a good turnout for this event because Colonial Beach always puts on a great fireworks show. I sometimes park near the BB&T bank branch and walk a few blocks. It's a good idea to bring chairs or a blanket to set down - especially if you're in the sandy part of the beach area. A flashlight is also helpful.
Sunday
The Boardwalk Arts and Crafts Fair usually starts at 10:00am and will last until 4:00pm on Sunday.
DJ on Town Hill around 1pm provides music for dancing and maybe even Karaoke.
Colonial Beach Yacht Club Boat Parade travels from Monroe Bay up to the Town Pier. Get your cameras ready for all the beautiful boats as they make their way to the Pier area.
Pet Parade usually begins at 2:00pm at the town stage. Ponder pretty pooches prancing past parade participants. It is so cute to see all these dogs, some in costume, some performing tricks. Of course there's judging and your dog may even win a prize!
Here are some pictures from the 2010 pet parade
Return from Potomac River Festival to Events
Return Home
