Return of Riverfest expected to draw large crowds to Four Corners

FARMINGTON, N.M. — Events are starting back up all throughout New Mexico. One highly anticipated event, called Riverfest, started Friday in the Four Corners.

It’s keeping the president of the River Reach Foundation, D’Ann Waters, busy for the expected 30,000 visitors throughout the holiday weekend.

“It’s going to be something that I think everyone is going to really enjoy, coming back into some normalcy, and being able to socialize, see what people have made, all the different arts and crafts,” Waters said.

It is the 34th year of Riverfest and despite a two-year shutdown, Waters said that hasn’t slowed down people’s excitement.

“There is a lot more activity, I think after the pandemic people are wanting to get out, and it’s the first time for most of the vendors to sell their stuff because they were limited because of COVID,” he said.

One of those vendors is Adam Scofield, the owner of Corn Mania food booth, a family business that has been grilling corn at Riverfest for almost 30 years. Schofield said it’s a way to feel connected to the community.

“It is also a great opportunity to get to know the community a little bit,” Schofield said. “I grew up here, my wife as well, and it’s just a good opportunity to see people we haven’t seen for a while and just be in the community.”

Besides manning the grill, Scofield is looking forward to meeting new people.

“I do enjoy all the other booths and getting to know the other people and just interacting with people while we are out here it is a lot of fun,” Schofield said. “It’s been nice after COVID, we all have kind of been doing all of our social distancing and everything so it is nice to be out again and interacting.”

Waters added that a total of 90 vendors are set up all throughout the park, which is more than in previous years.