Day 2 of the 2018 Aquatennial was one plagued by the fear of rain.  In typical fashion, the Aquatennial team handled this fear with ease and professionalism.  We endured the light rain and continued as planned.  We started off with another weekly event in the summer, the Nicollet Mall Farmers Market.  Dozens of market vendors lined the sidewalks of Nicollet and hundreds of people stopped by to stock up on fresh produce, flowers and more.

In the afternoon, we welcomed a new event to Aquatennial, the JB Hudson Family Fun Fest.  Activities included beading projects, color-your-own tiaras and watches, rock painting and a family photo station, plus hot dogs and cool treats.  This indoors event attracted many families who were looking for something a little different, and the JB Hudson team delivered with a great event that we hope to have back as part of Aquatennial in the future.

The second day of the Aquatennial blood drive was one for the record books.  The Red Cross received as Aquatennial Blood drive single-day record of 40 donations.  Lines of people were at the volunteer table all day trying to get their spot to donate, and we couldn’t be more appreciative of the efforts by everyone – especially during the blood crisis happening now.

CorePower Yoga came back to Aquatennial this year with what was supposed to be a yoga session and guided meditation hike at Father Hennepin Bluff Park.  Unfortunately, we live in an unpredictable world and this event was forced into their downtown studio due to the weather.  Nonetheless, the Yogis came out in full force with a great showing – nearly filling their largest studio room.

Rounding out a strong second day of Aquatennial was a crowd favorite – the Twin Cities Rive Rats water ski show.  Again, the rain thinned the crowd a little bit, but that didn’t stop the die-hard fans from showing up and supporting this awesome group of performers.  This year’s theme was The Little Ratscalls.