Thousands of people with a wide array of floatation devices — ranging from massive unicorns and flamingos to inner tubes and standup paddle boards — spent the day Sunday floating the Willamette River in The Big Float, an annual event that has drawn tens of thousands to Portland’s Willamette River since 2011.
Sunday’s extravaganza started with pirates firing two cannons from a stage at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, signaling the time for river float fans to parade south toward Poet’s Beach. From there, thousands of float riders slowly piled into the water heading north with the current.
Southerly winds made it a mild struggle for some floaters, specifically those without paddles. Many got creative and used their flip flops as paddles. Others jumped out and used their legs to kick their vessels forward.
Sadly, after a two-year pandemic hiatus, this will be Portland’s last Big Float, according to ringleader Willie Levenson.
The event first started in 2011 after the 20-year, $1.44 billion Big Pipe project was completed, resulting in a near-total elimination of combined sewer overflows into the river. That’s when Levenson created the Human Access Project, whose mission is “transforming Portland’s relationship with the Willamette River.” Levenson serves as the nonprofit’s Ringleader (that’s his official IRS-registered title – we checked).
With the Big Float, Levenson said he wanted “to help create awareness” about the Big Pipe and prove to Portlanders that the river was safe to enjoy and worth protecting.
Levenson said momentum from The Big Float has helped the Human Access Project champion the opening of Poet’s and Audrey McCall beaches, convert the Kevin Duckworth dock from a motorized dock to a non-motorized swimming dock, and lead many river clean-ups.
Now, the era of the annual Big Float has come to an end.
Levenson said at this point, putting on The Big Float requires too much energy for the Human Access Project.
“It’s a tremendous amount of work,” he said. The project wants to focus on its other goals, like addressing the harmful algae bloom threat at Ross Island Lagoon, replacing swimming docks at multiple public beaches, and creating a new access point on the Willamette as part of the Burnside Bridge replacement.
Still, Levenson is holding out hope that another person or group might continue the Human Access Project’s work and revive The Big Float.
–Zella Hanson
–Mark Graves
