Moraine State Park Regatta is ready to set sail despite the cancellation of Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Regatta.

Butler County's own regatta begins Saturday morning and ends Sunday night. The Pittsburgh regatta's cancellation was announced Tuesday morning.

While both regattas were scheduled for the same weekend, the two events are not connected.

“Over the past week, my administration learned that the event management firm for the regatta, LionHeart Event Group, has not paid the city for police services the past two years, and learned the state-owned Point State Park and private vendors had not received payments either,” Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto said. “Efforts to save this year's regatta were ongoing when it became apparent that LionHeart had not secured the mandatory insurance to hold the event either.”

LionHeart Events Group is no stranger to foiled events, including in Butler County.

LionHeart coordinated the annual PyroFest, a gigantic fireworks display held at Cooper's Lake Campground.

In 2017, PyroFest announced its discontinuation due to a dispute with fireworks providers. The event was in its third year of a five-year contract with the campground as venue.

Jack Cohen, president of the Butler County Tourism & Convention Bureau, said he does not know all the specifics in the fireworks festival's cancellation, but he remembers that many people were disappointed.

LionHeart has coordinated the Pittsburgh regatta since at least 2015.

“When LionHeart took over that event, they moved the date to coincide with the Moraine regatta,” Cohen said.

Cohen said he isn't pleased to see the Pittsburgh regatta close, but he is excited about the opportunity to reach new levels of attendance.

“We'll tell everybody, 'Sorry about Pittsburgh, but Moraine's open,'” Cohen said. “It's a perfect park. This will give us the opportunity to show people what we have out there.”

Amanda Becker of Appleseed Events coordinates the Moraine State Park Regatta. She said Moraine has plenty of accommodations, activities and entertainment to spare.

“All these people (who) were looking to go to that regatta, those people are probably looking for something to do,” Becker said.

Becker said organizers are preparing for extra people. She said space and parking will not be problems.

“We were already focusing on safety. It's a bunch of things we've already been doing. We just gotta make sure we cross our t's and dot our i's,” Becker said. “Everything is pretty set. I'm just grateful we can welcome some additional people.”

Becker said not competing with the Pittsburgh regatta likely will help draw new visitors.

“There's a chance they're gonna wanna come back every year, or ideally they're going to want to come back with their family throughout,” Becker said.

Cohen said the event would allow new visitors to get acquainted with the park as it nears its 50th anniversary celebration.

Cohen added that the pace is different at Moraine. He said things are slower on and off the water, but they don't lack excitement.

“This is a really relaxing, great park for families to spend time,” Cohen said. “You don't have to worry about the noises and the big crowd levels, but we still have a lot of people who visit Moraine.”

The only exception to the noise levels is when live bands hit the stage.

Cohen said there is an impressive lineup this year that includes The Dorals headlining Saturday and Jim Donovan and the Sun King Warriors on Sunday.

“I don't know how we're going to top that next year, but I've got a plan in my pocket,” Cohen said.