Kipona

Last updated
Kipona
Kipona 1920.jpg
Canoe Race under Walnut Street Bridge, Kipona 1920
StatusActive
GenreFestival
Date(s) Labor Day Weekend
FrequencyAnnually
Venue Riverfront Park and City Island
Location(s) Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Years active1916,1919-1922,1936-40, 1946-2019, 2021-present
InauguratedSeptember 4, 1916 (1916-09-04)
FounderEdward J. Stackpole Sr.
Attendance70,000
Area Susquehanna Valley
Organized byCity of Harrisburg
Website Official website

Kipona is an annual festival held each Labor Day weekend in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania celebrating the Susquehanna River. Its name means "on sparkling water" to some Native Americans, of which "sparkling water" was thought to be what the river was traditionally called by the Susquehannock and Shawanese tribes. [1]

Contents

History

The 2024 festival Kipona festival, Harrisburg.jpg
The 2024 festival

In the early 20th century, the municipal improvements of the City Beautiful movement included construction of the riverfront steps and esplanade on Riverfront Park as well as the Dock Street Dam to allow better river recreation. Vance McCormick as mayor advocated river festivals, and the city held boat parades and galas from 1907 to 1915; a large aquatic carnival in 1915 celebrated the city's achievements. [2] Business rival Edward J. Stackpole Sr. of the Harrisburg Telegraph stole the idea the following summer, enlisting councilman M. Harvey Taylor and prominent banker George W. Reily to help implement an annual aquatic festival to generate revenue for the city and increase civic pride toward the city and the Susquehanna River. [3] [4] The name was chosen from a city-wide competition, where "Kipona" was proposed by Dr. Hugh Hamilton of the Pennsylvania Federation of Historical Societies, who later composed a song entitled "Ki-po-nah". The Greater Harrisburg Navy organized it, and an estimated 50,000 attended. [2] As the United States entered World War I, the festival was cancelled for the 1917 and 1918, but revived the following year. Financial problems with the city halted the festival from 1923; following the Flood of 1936, Kipona was revived as a morale booster. [5]

There were cancellations since its revival in 1941-45, and 2020.

Attractions

Annual festivities include a celebration/festival of India, a Native American Pow-Wow, art and craft exhibits, live music, carnival rides, games, vendors, food trucks, canoe races and fireworks display. [5] Former attractions have included tightrope walking, Ferris wheels, contests for decorated boats, high diving, canoe tilting contests, sailing, swimming races, hydroplane racing, hang gliding stunts, escape artists, waterskiing, inner tubing, chili cookoff, Competitive eating, car show, bicycle races, hot air balloons, and Rubber duck races. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrisburg, Pennsylvania</span> Capital city of Pennsylvania, United States

Harrisburg is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger principal city of the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area, also known as the Susquehanna Valley, which had a population of 591,712 in 2020 and is the fourth-most populous metro area in Pennsylvania. Harrisburg is situated on the east bank of the Susquehanna River and is located 83 miles (134 km) southwest of Allentown and 107 miles (172 km) northwest of Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highspire, Pennsylvania</span> Borough in Pennsylvania, United States

Highspire is a borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,741 at the 2020 census, an increase over the figure of 2,399 tabulated in 2010. It is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danville, Pennsylvania</span> Borough in Pennsylvania, United States

Danville is a borough in and the county seat of Montour County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the North Branch of the Susquehanna River. The population was 4,221 at the 2020 census. Danville is part of the Bloomsburg-Berwick micropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susquehanna River</span> Major river in the Northeastern United States

The Susquehanna River is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeast states. At 444 miles (715 km) long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the United States. By watershed area, it is the 16th-largest river in the United States, and also the longest river in the early 21st-century continental United States without commercial boat traffic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juniata River</span> River in Pennsylvania, United States

The Juniata River is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, approximately 104 miles (167 km) long, in central Pennsylvania. The river is considered scenic along much of its route, having a broad and shallow course passing through several mountain ridges and steeply lined water gaps. It formed an early 18th-century frontier region in Pennsylvania and was the site of French-allied Native American attacks against English colonial settlements during the French and Indian War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrisburg University of Science and Technology</span> Private university in Pennsylvania, United States

Harrisburg University of Science & Technology, commonly referred to as Harrisburg University (HU), is a private STEM-focused university in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with an additional location in Philadelphia. Founded in 2001 as Harrisburg Polytechnic Institute, it offers STEM-focused degree and certificate programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City Island (Pennsylvania)</span> Area of Harrisburg in Pennsylvania, United States

City Island is a mile-long island in the Susquehanna River between Harrisburg and Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is used mainly for leisure and sports activities. Its previous names have included Turkey Island, Maclay's Island, Forster's Island and Hargast Island. The island can be reached from either side of the Susquehanna River by Market Street Bridge or, from the Harrisburg side and by pedestrians and cyclists only, by Walnut Street Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania</span> Neighborhood in Harrisburg in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States

Downtown Harrisburg is the central core neighborhood, business and government center which surrounds the focal point of Market Square, and serves as the regional center for the greater metropolitan area of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walnut Street Bridge (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania)</span> Bridge in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

The Walnut Street Bridge also known as The People's Bridge, is a truss bridge that spanned the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania until 1996. Built by the Phoenix Bridge Company in 1890, it is the oldest remaining bridge connecting Harrisburg's downtown and Riverfront Park with City Island. Since flooding in 1996 collapsed sections of the western span, it no longer connects to the West Shore. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. A 2014 Cross-River Connections Study notes that the bridge currently serves as an "important bicycle and pedestrian link between City Island and downtown Harrisburg, connecting the city and the Capital Area Greenbelt to special events on City Island."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Deer Hole Creek</span> Tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River

White Deer Hole Creek is a 20.5-mile (33.0 km) tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Clinton, Lycoming and Union counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A part of the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin, the White Deer Hole Creek watershed drains parts of ten townships. The creek flows east in a valley of the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians, through sandstone, limestone, and shale from the Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian periods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shipoke, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania</span> Neighborhood of Harrisburg in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States

Shipoke (SHY-poke) is a neighborhood in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Shipoke is delineated by I-83 to the south, Washington Street to the north, Second Street to the east, and the Susquehanna River to the west. It is Harrisburg Ward number one. Compared to the area of Harrisburg's other neighborhoods, Shipoke is small.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital Area Greenbelt</span> Trail in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, US

The Capital Area Greenbelt is a looping trail located in the area of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This 20-mile loop around Pennsylvania's capital city provides visitors and tourists with opportunities to hike, ride bicycles, skate, jog, fish, walk their dogs, spot rare birds, learn about history, enjoy native flora and fauna, and appreciate nature. While parts of the trail are shared with roads, most of the loop is a dedicated path. The Trail, as it is commonly referred to by locals, passes along the Susquehanna River through Reservoir Park, Riverfront Park, Five Senses Garden, and Wildwood Park and Nature Center. In addition to parks, the Capital Area Greenbelt passes alongside attractions including the grave site of John Harris Sr., the Governor's Mansion, Fort Hunter, Harrisburg State Hospital, and the National Civil War Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania</span> Aspect of US history

The history of Harrisburg, the state capital of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, has played a key role in the development of the nation's industrial history from its origins as a trading outpost to the present. Harrisburg has played a critical role in American history during the Westward Migration, the American Civil War, and the Industrial Revolution. For part of the 19th century, the building of the Pennsylvania Canal and later the Pennsylvania Railroad allowed Harrisburg to become one of the most industrialized cities in the Northeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Governor's Residence</span> Building in Pennsylvania, United States

The Pennsylvania Governor's Residence is the official residence of the governor of Pennsylvania, in the Uptown neighborhood of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The neo-Georgian residence was built from 1966 to 1968 and designed by George M. Ewing, heading an architectural firm in Philadelphia. The mansion was previously only used for official functions and meetings, because then-Governor Tom Wolf commuted from his private residence in nearby Mount Wolf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riverfront Park (Harrisburg)</span>

Riverfront Park is a public park in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that spans beside the Susquehanna River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardscrabble, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania</span> Neighborhood of Harrisburg in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States

Hardscrabble was a small settlement of mostly frame structures in Midtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania from late 18th century to 1924, so named because of its reputation as a rough place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Market Square, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania</span> Neighborhood of Harrisburg in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States

Harrisburg's Market Square is located in Downtown Harrisburg at the intersection of 2nd and Market Streets. The square was created in 1785. Since then, it has traditionally been the navigational center of the city, and experienced a post-1980s revival, with the creation of several new commercial, residential and retail spaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania history</span>

This is a timeline of the major events in the history of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and vicinity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrisburg Bureau of Fire</span> Fire department in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, US

Harrisburg Bureau of Fire (HBF) is a firefighting agency that is located in and serves Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and its surrounding metropolitan area. It is a career firefighting agency with at least 15 firefighters and fire officers on duty at any given time, supplemented with volunteer staffing as well. Everyday duties for the Bureau include fire suppression, emergency medical services, tactical rescue, urban search and rescue, water rescue, hazardous materials response, fire prevention, fire codes enforcement, and public safety educations.

<i>Pride of the Susquehanna</i> Diesel-powered paddle-wheel riverboat

Pride of the Susquehanna is a diesel-powered paddle-wheel riverboat owned and operated by the Harrisburg Area Riverboat Society non-profit, moored at City Island, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on the Susquehanna River during its annual operational period.

References

  1. 1 2 Stuart, Jeb (2016). The Centennial History of Harrisburg's Kipona: 1916-2016. Historic Harrisburg Association.
  2. 1 2 "Things you don't know about the first Kipona in 1916: aqua-planing, man-fishing and the death of a police officer". pennlive. 2019-08-29. Retrieved 2022-04-13.
  3. Beers, Paul B. City contented, city discontented : a history of modern Harrisburg. Midtown Scholar Press. p. 176. ISBN   978-0-9839571-0-2. OCLC   761221337.
  4. "The Purpose of Kipona · The Kipona Festival and City Beautiful · Harrisburg: The City Beautiful". citybeautiful.omeka.net. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  5. 1 2 "Kipona has a long history on the river: vintage photos". pennlive. 2017-08-31. Retrieved 2022-04-20.