The Inaugural Riverfest 2014 was a success!

The West Bend Noon Rotary's inaugural event of Riverfest 2014 was a success!

Final attendance numbers and revenue have yet to be determined but early indications are the West Bend Noon Rotary’s Riverfest was the most successful in recent years.

“You know the weather was great all four days and we had a lot of sponsorship dollars and saw a substantial increase in that as we went into the festival,” Riverfest Chairman Pete Rettler said.

This year the Noon Rotary approached the festival with changes including steering clear of the tokens and switching the name from Seafood Fest to Riverfest.

“That was very positive and we heard a bunch of compliments.” Rettler said.

There was peel-and-eat shrimp and lobster, as well as offerings from the Campus Café and Jumbo’s Frozen Custard.

Opening Thursday night was new. Rettler said the crowd was small but the Rotary will try again next year. The pancake breakfast on Sunday morning was a little disappointing but Rettler said all in all when the numbers come in it will be one of the more successful festivals.

Part of the success can be traced to the shelters at Regner Park. Gone are the days when the Noon Rotary spent more than $8,000 on tents, $4,000 on electric- and-plumbing services and $3,000 on hired labor. Profits from Riverfest go back to the community.