1969

The father of the Fort Wayne Three Rivers Festival is generally considered to be Dean Phillips. When the Three Rivers Festival made its debut in 1969; the main purpose was to promote business and industry and to emphasize Fort Wayne 's historical heritage. There were two Grand Marshals of the first Festival Parade--Jonathan Frid, who played the vampire Barnabas Collins on television's Dark Shadows, and John Banner, who portrayed Sergeant Schultz on Hogan's Heroes. Among special guests that year was Sitting Bull's grandson, Chief of the Sioux nation. The Barr Street Farmer's Market re-opened for Festival after being closed for nearly a decade. An estimated 100,000 enjoyed approximately 60 events at the first Three Rivers Festival centered mostly on the Landing (Columbia Street).

1970

Attendance at the second Festival was up an estimated 25%, with 125,000 people attending 66 events. Among the most popular exhibits was the moon rock sample furnished by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The popular WLYV Raft Race joined the Festival in 1970. However, the more traditional boat rides on the river proved to be even more popular, with hundreds of people being turned away.

1971

Over 175,000 attended the 1971 Festival events, more than doubling the figure of the previous year. For the first time, people from outside the area came to attend the event. The Festival Parade featured 42 giant balloons and a crowd estimated at 100,000. Many of the balloons were the same ones that had thrilled spectators at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Festival closed with one of the world's largest fly-ins featuring foreign, antique and homemade planes.

1972

The 1972 Opening Day Parade again featured giant balloons enjoyed by a crowd estimated at 145,000 people. The Fort Wayne Police Department sponsored free movies on the Landing. The sergeant operating the projector was more than a little chagrined as he started to roll the film that evening, discovering that someone had substituted a stag movie for the intended feature. Quickly realizing the topless dancer cavorting on the screen wasn't W.C.Field or Buster Keaton, the curtain fell on the shortest movie in Festival history. Total Festival attendance topped 300,000 and included visitors from 17 states and from as far away as Scotland .

1973

By the fifth Festival an estimated 1,500 local volunteers were involved in making sure things ran smoothly. Parade attendance was estimated at 150,000. Among the special guests was Joe Higgins, a former Fort Wayne resident best known as the southern sheriff in the Dodge automobile TV commercial. The Raft Race drew 862 entries with 6,000 rafters aboard. The breathtaking new event of the '73 Festival was the Navy's Blue Angels jet stunt-flying team. For the first time, attendance at all festival events totaled more than a million people.

1974

The 1974 Three Rivers Festival marked Allen County 's sesquicentennial. It saw the return of many of the old favorite events. It also heralded the debut of new events such as the Bed Race, which drew a crowd of 5,000 in the first year. The Festival had now grown to include more than 100 events in some 30 locations around the city.