And So All Good Things Must Come To An End...

To our French Broad River Festival Family -

Early this year, we received notice that Hot Springs Resort & Spa will no longer allow or host overnight events or festivals. We were already preparing for 2022. 

Needless to say, this was a huge shock... However, after some reflection we realize it has been a celebration across an amazing  24 year run. In 1998, we never imagined what this event would become. From the beginning, the goal was to have fun, share the beauty of the French Broad River and raise awareness of its use for recreation and to raise money for charities we cared about. We did all of that and more!

Thank you to the bands, artists, vendors, volunteers, rafting guides, sponsors, aerial artists, paraders, jugglers, hula hoopers, raft racers, poker runners, bike racers, unicyclers, face painters, marshmallow slingers, late-night campfire jammers, and overall good-timing, ever-loving FBRFers. Thanks to the FBRFcommunity we were able to donate over $200,000 to local non profits, remove thousands of pounds of trash from the river, and make the French Broad River, and the town of Hot Springs a better place... and we had a damn good time doing it!

The land along the river in Hot Springs is a special place where people have gathered for many, many years. We are grateful to the folks at Hot Springs Resort for sharing it. Although we are uncertain of the Festival's future, we're sure we’ll see many of you in the future. Perhaps, camping on the 1st weekend of May or early October enjoying the setting with friends and family or maybe by the stage at Big Pillow Brewing in Hot Springs, (owned and operated by one of the founders, Chris Donochod)?

It is so fitting that the FBRF All-Stars closed out this year’s festival with a truly epic performance. From then to now, we celebrate everything we've shared. As for the festival, we don’t know what the future holds. If there’s ever a time and place that’s right to celebrate a 25th we’ll hope to see you there. For now, the river moves on and we are grateful. This winter we want to reflect and share memories. We really hope you will share your stories, pictures, or videos. So many experiences and connections have been made in that special place. So many stories...