Paddle board festival set at First Lake

Beaver Creek Reservoir will be the site for the first local two-day stand up paddle board festival, an event its coordinators hope will become a recurring one.

SUPfest will happen Saturday and Sunday, June 24 and 25, at the Community Effort Pavilion at the reservoir about 8 miles south of Havre.

The cost for both days is $20 and that gets people drinks provided by Gary & Leo’s Fresh Foods and food from Nalivka’s, as well as use of paddle boards, paddles and life vests for those who don’t have them. That price tag also includes the opportunity to camp out overnight

The public is invited, including those with children. Prizes will be given out to children and adults. Children’s prizes include squirt guns and boogie boards.

Among the activities will be a tandem race, a backward race and SUP dodgeball — all of which will include paddle boards and water.

“We expect people to fall in and get wet,” event coordinator Tony Filler said.

First- and second-place holders in each of the events will receive prizes.

Filler, who is aided by his wife Cortney, said he got the idea for a paddle board festival after many times of paddle boarding on First Lake and noticing the lack of paddle board enthusiasts.

“We came here 50 times a year, and we’ve seen like two other people doing that. Man, there’s something with that,” Filler said.

The Fillers then set out to put on an event where people can have fun. They began brainstorming, talking to shops who can provide paddle boards, local business with drinks and refreshments, and then getting the blessing of the Beaver Creek Park board.

Registration will begin at 1 p.m. June 24 and can be done at the site. There is no preregistration or online registration, Filler said. Alcohol will not be provided, but people are free to bring their own. The organizers are setting up a speaker system for music.