Some of the attractions at this year’s River Town Days include “cowboys,” pirates, soldiers, water skiers and boaters.

This year’s River Town Days festival will be held Friday and Saturday, May 6-7 at the Earle May Boat Basin.

Kicking things off will be the return of popular country/rock band, the Kinchafoonee Cowboys, who will headline Friday night’s concert at the Performing Arts Center in the Boat Basin. Area performers the Wilson Dean Band will open the concert.

On Saturday morning, May 7, the fun begins at 8 a.m., when the River Rummage booths open. This year, the rummage will be shifted over closer to the Boat Basin, while the river bank will be left open for people to watch some exciting new events.

There will be a kayak race at 10 a.m., a homemade raft race at 11 a.m., a boat show going on all day. But folks who want to see some aquatic action can hang around: there will be a water skiing show in the Flint River at 1 p.m. and a boat parade at 2 p.m.

H2O Sports of Dothan, Ala., will be performing the water skiing show, which will feature talented skiers of all ages doing various stunts on the water.

Kids’ activities

A variety of kids’ activities will be going on all day, starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m. Kids can enjoy the fun all day long with the purchase of a $5 armband. Armband activities include a trip aboard the pirate ship, catching a fish at the trout fishing pond, animal exhibits from Albany’s Parks at Chehaw and much more.

“The pirate ship is all new and I guarantee that kids are going to have a blast on it,” said Kim Walden of the Bainbridge-Decatur County Chamber of Commerce and one of the festival’s organizers.

Favorite activities from prior River Town Days which will be returning this year include the rock climbing wall, a mechanical bull, a bounce house, obstacle course, a big slide, other rides, a petting zoo and ponies.

While the kids are having fun, everyone in the family can enjoy browsing the River Rummage, checking out vendor booths, making arts and crafts and sampling some festival food favorites.

“I think people who come to River Town Days will be pleased to see what we’ve done with our vendor booths this year,” Walden said. “We’ve really focused from the start on encouraging our vendors to arrange some high-quality shopping experiences this year.”

Another new event that should prove interesting will be a historical Civil War reenactment in the Boat Basin. 2011 marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War.

About Friday night’s performers

The River Town Days concert should be a crowd-pleaser for everyone who comes out to the Performing Arts amphitheater in Bainbridge on May 6 at 6:30 p.m.

The Kinchafoonee Cowboys have released four studio albums and annually perform numerous concerts across Georgia. Based in Athens, Ga., The Cowboys are originally from Albany, Ga., near the Kinchafoonee Creek the band takes its name from. They maintain an active fan page at facebook.com/kinchafoonee

The Wilson Dean Band, who hail from Tallahassee, Fla., play a mix of rock, Southern rock and country. Their Web site is www.WilsonDeanBand.com