Labor Day weekend marks the end of the Boise River float season

BOISE, Idaho — Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer but in Boise it's the official end of the Boise River float season.

The number of floaters continues to grow every summer, and this year Ada County contracted out MAV Event Services to help with parking and security at Barber Park.

For many families in Boise, floating the river is a summer tradition and a way to gather people together for a special event.

"It is our 50th wedding anniversary, and I figured, we made it to 50 so we can be daring," said Matt Jones who was floating the river with his wife Bonnie and several other family members Sunday. "It's great entertainment we love the river and it looks like a lot of people are enjoying it this weekend."

We ran into another floater from Boise who is having his own wedding this weekend and, you guessed it, he took his soon-to-be new family down the Boise River.

"I don't know anywhere else that you can do this," said Matt Jones. "It is really fun they are all from out of town so we figured it would be show them because it is such a unique Boise thing."

Starting on Tuesday, parking at Barber Park will be free but Boise River Tube & Raft will no longer be renting equipment or shuttling people back up to Barber Park as operations come to an end.

Ada County did tell us that the air pumps to inflate rafts and tubes will be left on throughout next weekend. People can continue to float the river at their own risk.