About Us

“We (measure success) by the ocean of smiling faces and the crowds enjoying our beautiful park and seeing friends and making new ones at the festival.” 
Riverfest Founder Tom Schultz, 2019

Watertown Riverfest Inc. 

Watertown Riverfest Inc. is a non-profit Wisconsin corporation that was created in 2023 for the charitable mission of “organizing and hosting a periodic community festival for the City of Watertown.”   It carries on the mission of putting on Watertown's annual Riverfest celebration and replaces the previous City of Watertown "Watertown Celebration Committee".   

To contact us, please send mail to "Watertown Riverfest Inc." at "PO Box 431" in "Watertown, WI 53094".  We also maintain an active Facebook page for faster response.

Non-Profit Status

Watertown Riverfest Inc. is recognized by the State of Wisconsin and the United States Internal Revenue Service as a 501c3 charitable organization.  This means that donations to Watertown Riverfest Inc. are typically tax deductible and we are exempt from some types of tax such as sales taxes.   

View IRS 501c3 Determination Letter

Non-Profit Board

Watertown Riverfest Inc. is led by a board of seven volunteer directors who are elected to staggered three-year terms at the annual Board meeting in October. 

• Jonathan Lampe, President

• Aaron Zimmermann, Vice-President (also Operations Executive)

• Robin Kaufmann, Secretary (also Marketing Executive)

• Alyse Talaga, Treasurer

• Glenn Lassanske (also Beverage Chair)

• Barb Bartz (also Raffle Chair) 

• (open seat)

We also wish to thank our previous board members who helped us reestablish Riverfest as the region's top large festival and develop a plan to sustain the organization far into the future.  

• Karah Pugh, Founding Director and Revenue Executive (2023-2024)

Festival Committee

Most of the work required to put on Riverfest every year is performed by teams headed by "chairs" who are collectively known as the “Festival Committee”.  Please refer to the Contact page or specific events on this site for more information about chairs and committees.  

Trademarks

"Watertown Riverfest" and the Watertown Riverfest logo are trademarks of Watertown Riverfest, Inc.  All rights reserved.