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Arts, education, salmon featured at annual fest
Diorama
Setting up a diorama of the river to mimic its flow and give attendees the chance to see how different actions can affect it, Kyle Horvath of Cramer Fish Sciences, at right, was among the presenters on hand for Saturday’s Salmon Festival in Knights Ferry.

With bright sunshine and blue skies on Saturday, Nov. 9, visitors to the Knights Ferry Recreation Area enjoyed the perfect backdrop for the 2024 Stanislaus River Salmon Festival.

Multiple informational and educational booths dotted the rec area, everything from teaching about invasive species to conservation, animal rescue to the life cycle of the salmon.

An admission free festival, it served up plenty of hands-on activities for kids to enjoy, along with a number of take-home art and craft projects. Among the most popular was creating uniquely designed Salmon Festival T-shirts. There were also some food booths, beverages, vendor booths, and prime viewing conditions on the bridge over the Stanislaus River to look for salmon.

A special feature this year was a performance by Native American drummers and attendees could try their hand at gold panning, while there were also some adoptable pets on site, looking for new forever homes.

The crowd was sizeable, moving through the various stations throughout the event, which ran from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Whac
This station featured the opportunity to ‘Whac a Mussel’ and Ranger Ben, at right, was offering some information about the invasive Quagga/zebra mussels and how destructive they can be while participants enjoyed the chance to give them a ‘whac’ and score some points.
Tshirts
After painting and decorating their T-shirts, kids could hang them up to dry so they would be ready to take home at the end of the Salmon Festival, hosted in Knights Ferry on Saturday, Nov. 9.