Regatta at Lake Arthur successful at 20
The 20th annual Regatta at Lake Arthur continued the event’s return to good form with lakefront good times, its organizers boast.
Holly Muchnok, the event director for the Regatta, said the event’s second year competing with Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Regatta proved that the Butler County event stands on its own. Attendance numbers, once in the tens of thousands, hit a low of about 7,000 in 2012, but recent years’ Regattas have brought crowds as large as 20,000 once again, competition or not.
“When [Three Rivers organizers] moved their event to the first weekend of August, we had to make a decision to say are we weren’t going to let that impact us here,” Muchnok said. “What we’re doing, we think, can hold its own. At that point, we had grown our confidence in it. The region is able to support two types of Regattas. One that’s big and fast and loud and expensive, and the other that’s a wonderful, tranquil experience near the water.”
This year brought more growth, Muchnok said. Several fan-favorite events, such as the DockDogs dog leaping competition, boat races and open-stage karaoke returned.
