Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
THUNDERFEST
THUNDERFEST. Thunderfest was a popular four-day event featuring boat racing competition and concerts. Organized by Rod Tschiggfrie in 1994, the event in 1996 attracted an estimated 50,000 fans and was watched by countless others when the Formula One Series was shown on ESPN. That year the race hosted two of the national races on which professionals depended for qualifying times and prize money. One of those, the Professional Racing Outboard Performance Tour's Formula One Series, was the largest event in the ten-site circuit.
In 1997, citing costs of sponsoring the event, Tschiggfrie announced that there would be no future event unless a sponsor, willing to invest at least $100,000, could be found. (1) The event had not made a profit in any of the three years of its existence. (2)
In its short history, Thunderfest overshadowed a similar event held in Dubuque in 1911. In July of that year, an estimated six hundred motor boats participated in an event sponsored by the Dubuque Motor Boat Club. Watched by a crowd of approximately 20,000 visitors, the speedboats reached speeds of 28 mph over a five-mile round trip course. In 1994 the speeds were believed to be at least 100 miles per hour.
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Source:
1. Patenaude, Joel. "Finances Steal Boat Festival's Thunder," Telegraph Herald, January 8, 1997, p. 1. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=aEyKTaVlRPYC&dat=19970108&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
2. Ibid., p. 2