Greater Harrisburg's Community Magazine

Food, fireworks, fun–Kipona returns for Labor Day weekend

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse speaks at a press conference introducing this weekend’s Kipona Festival, surrounded by festival participants and sponsors.

It’s almost Labor Day, which can only mean one thing in Harrisburg—Kipona is right around the corner.

The three-day, annual tribute to all-things-river kicks off this Saturday, Sept. 1, featuring a blend of the new and the tried-and-true in Riverfront Park and on City Island.

“This is an incredibly important event for Harrisburg,” said Mayor Eric Papenfuse at a press conference on Wednesday. “It allows us to show off the city to everyone.”

Kipona costs about $100,000 to put on, but the total cost is borne by sponsors, he said. Some of those sponsors, such as the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, were in attendance at the press conference, held in stifling heat outside of city hall.

“Not a single dollar is a taxpayer dollar,” Papenfuse said. “It’s a real economic catalyst for the city, especially for the downtown.”

For the first time, Kipona will feature a mobile “escape room,” in which visitors must solve a mystery in order to leave. The activity, sponsored by Harrisburg Escape Rooms, will feature a zombie-themed puzzle with an “actual” zombie.

Other recent additions are returning, including wire-walkers over the Susquehanna River and a beer garden featuring products from Harrisburg-based craft brewers, Zeroday Brewing Co. and The Millworks.

This year, the wire-walkers are adding an illuminated tight-wire walk over the river starting at 8:15 p.m. on Saturday. Following that event, Midtown Cinema will show a free outdoor movie, the 2017 Disney/Pixar animated fantasy film, “Coco.”

And, of course, tradition will carry on with canoe races, a Native American pow-wow, music, a children’s festival, an artist village and more than 120 vendors selling food, crafts and other goods.

Then, naturally, there will be fireworks, which will fire off at about 8:15 p.m. on Sunday. Kipona, as usual, will wrap up on Monday, Labor Day.

Street parking on Sunday and Monday will be free. Parking on City Island will be $5. SP Plus will provide $10 special event parking in the Market Square garage from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.  As always, you can get four hours of free street parking on Saturday by using the code “LUVHBG” in the ParkMobile App.

 

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