Thunderstorms and heavy showers washed out the final evening of Riverfest Saturday night, while overcast and windy weather earlier in the day cut into attendance at the festival’s free afternoon events.

Riverfest Secretary Erin Hern said the pouring rain and lightning forced festival organizers to officially cancel the evening’s entertainment at 8:30 p.m., in the middle of The Patrick Smith Band’s set and before festival headliner Aaron Tippin could perform.

“There’s nobody here anyway, so it doesn’t really matter,” said Hern as organizers decided to call off the show. “The only people left are workers. It’s too bad. We like to have this event rain or shine, but we can’t control the weather and Mother Nature does not always cooperate.”

The night was a wash well before organizers officially canceled. Nearly all the vendors along Washington Street had packed up and left Riverfest before the first band took the stage at 7 p.m. Liz Simpson of Greenville, who has brought her shaved ice trailer to Riverfest for the past six years, was among those packing it in early and cutting her loses.

“It was horrible — nowhere near the crowd they have had in years past, and I know the weather had a lot to do with it,” Simpson said, adding she did not even make back the $675 her vendor permit cost. “I could stay, but what’s another $3 or $4?”

The vendors who stuck it out and the police officers providing security outnumbered the handful of remaining festival-goers by 8 p.m. There was, however, a silver financial lining to the rained-out festival, said Hern. The festival’s insurance policy will cover the cost of the evening’s entertainment because more than one-third of an inch of rain fell over Vicksburg from 6 to 9 p.m.

“It’s the second time in our 22-year history that we have had to use our rain insurance or cancel the festival,” Hern speculated.

Riverfest ticket holders are not eligible to receive a refund due to a rainout. Lighter and briefer patches of rain fell on festival-goers Friday night, but a crowd estimated in the thousands braved the weather for the most part.

The rain held off until just after 4 p.m. Saturday — long enough for the afternoon Riverfest activities to go on as planned, albeit with sluggish attendance.

Hern said the 41st annual Vicksburg-Warren County Riverfest Arts & Crafts Show, held on along Walnut, South and Crawford streets from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., drew about half as many people as last year. Of the 100 vendor spots sold for the show, 80 showed up due to the weather, she said.

“It did start to pick up in the afternoon after the sun came out for a while, but overall it was slow,” she said. “Of the people who did come, though, I didn’t see a single one who did not have at least one bag with them. So, they were buying a lot.”

The weather was not going to keep David and Linda Berry from attending the arts and crafts show to pick up a couple more birdhouses for their home in Braxton.

“We come every year for the arts and crafts, and we love it,” said Linda Berry, holding one of two new birdhouses to add to the more than 30 already at her home. “We were trying to beat the rain this morning, and we got here while some of the vendors were still setting up.” 

Meanwhile, the second annual Rally on the River — which paired with Riverfest for the first time this year — had modest attendance. Just 15 bikers entered the bike show atop the parking garage on Walnut Street, while a half dozen other bikers participated in the dice run and 10 people joined the dice walk through downtown. Nonetheless, event coordinator Kathy Triplett said she was pleased.

“Considering the weather, I think this is a really good turnout. I was really glad we had any turnout at all,” she said, and noted some of the event’s vendors canceled due to the weather.

Riverfest is a nonprofit organization with a 12-member volunteer board created after the spring festival was initiated 21 years ago.

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com