Annual canoe race cancelled

March 17, 2020

 

Per WABI TV in Bangor, the 2020 Kenduskeag Steam Canoe Race was cancelled on Tuesday as announced by Bangor Parks and Recreation staff due to COVID-19 concerns.

This years race was due to be the 54th edition and was scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 18. The event challenges all levels of paddlers in kayaks and canoes from Kenduskeag Village to downtown Bangor with the highlight being the challenging Six Mile Falls where hundreds of fans always gather. Organizers said it is too hard to re-schedule the race as it does not know how long the area will have to deal with the worries over COVID-19 among other concerns.

“Given the constantly changing circumstances around COVID-19 and the unknow length we will be dealing with this, we decided to cancel the Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race for 2020,” said Tracy Willette, Director of Parks and Recreation. “It’s a difficult event to postpone and reschedule since the water level in the stream continually drops throughout the spring, along with the resources that would be needed to safely run the event”.