Rain did not deter those attending the third annual Wine on the River at the Lehighton Outdoor Center on Saturday.

Bambi Elsasser, of the Lehighton Downtown Initiative, described it best. “As kids, we drank Kool-Aid and played in the rain; as adults, we’re going to drink wine and play in the rain!”

The festival featured a variety of local and regional wineries, food vendors, crafters and more. While 64 vendors were originally expected, the rain changed some of the plans.

“We’re not sure how many food vendors are here,” Elsasser said. “Because of the rain, we had to change things a bit. However, the food vendors had their food planned out for days, so they came.”

There were 12 local and regional wineries present, each offering a chance for ticket holders to sample some of their wines and purchase bottles to take home.

Dan Leichlider and Karen Schake were there on behalf of one of the wineries, Hidden Creek Vineyard & Winery of Laceyville.

“This is our third time here,” Leichlider said. “We did not come last year due to COVID.”

“We have eight varieties here of the many we make,” Leichlider said.

“We have a dry cabernet sauvignon,” Schake added, “to our top seller, Bullfrog’s Keg Sangria, which is fun and tropical; and, on a day like today, we really need it!”

The festival also included entertainment from “The Left Edge” and Layne “Doc Roberts from Colossal Radio.

“Wine on the River is a fundraiser for the Lehighton Downtown Partnership for the revitalization of downtown Lehighton,” Elsasser said. “We are working on beautification projects right now; but, you’ll be seeing some new things coming up soon. We have some really big plans in the works.”

Visit DiscoverLehighton.com for the Lehighton Downtown Initiative’s plans.