The day got off to a chilly start but once the sun broke through the conditions were perfect for an outdoor festival on Saturday in Knights Ferry.

The annual Stanislaus River Salmon Festival marked its 10th anniversary on Nov. 10, hosted at the Knights Ferry Recreation Area. Booths, activities, information, music, food, animals and more were all a part of the day, along with people getting the chance to see the salmon from the Knights Ferry bridge.

As of Nov. 11, the Stanislaus River fall-run salmon migration is at 4,016 salmon. For comparison, the season total was 5,254 salmon at this time last year. Did you know that female salmon use their tails to move gravel in the river to make a nest, called a “redd,” where they will lay their eggs? Salmon monitoring on the Stanislaus River includes surveys to count the number of redds and map their locations.

Funding for salmon monitoring at the Stanislaus weir is provided by the Oakdale Irrigation District, South San Joaquin Irrigation District, and Tri-Dam. Data collection is conducted by FISHBIO. For more information, visit www.fishbio.com.

Hours for the Saturday festival were 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the focus was on providing interactive, hands-on activities for children via exhibitors from local agriculture, state and federal fisheries agencies, and both for-profit and non-profit groups.