Saturday, Nov. 7, is a day on and beside the Bronx River in West Farms. From noon to 4 p.m., the Bronx River Alliance is putting people in boats for free at Concrete Plant Park, holding its fifth annual Community Banquet on the same stretch of shore, and co-hosting an Indigenous art workshop a short walk away in Starlight Park. Nothing requires registration, and all of it is free.

The paddle

The Alliance's community paddle launches from the Concrete Plant boat launch. Paddlers go out in waves at noon, 1, 2 and 3 p.m., with room for about 15 people per wave, and each group spends 30 to 40 minutes on the water after signing a waiver and getting a short safety briefing. It is first come, first served. Staff and volunteers are on the water for safety, but it is not a guided tour: you paddle yourself and see the neighborhood from the river. Anyone under 18 must come with an adult, who signs the minor's waiver.

The banquet

At the same hours, the Bronx River Foodway team hosts its fifth annual Community Banquet in Concrete Plant Park, at 1370 Westchester Avenue. The Foodway is a community food forest planted along the river, and the banquet marks what its foragers, land stewards, community chefs and herbalists learned from the land this year. Expect free tastings, music and art workshops.

The food forest needs help after the party, too. On Tuesday mornings, Nov. 10, 17 and 24, from 10 a.m. to noon, volunteers pull invasive plants and weeds, plant native species and lay mulch in the garden beds. Those sessions require signing up on the Bronx River Alliance website.

Indigenous art at Starlight Park

Also from noon to 4 p.m., the North American Indigenous Center of New York and the Bronx River Alliance run a family-friendly Indigenous art workshop at the Bronx River House in Starlight Park, 1490 Sheridan Boulevard. Children and adults can learn traditional Indigenous crafts and meet contemporary Indigenous culture. It is first come, first served, and is funded through the Bronx Council on the Arts' administration of the Statewide Community Regrants Program of the New York State Council on the Arts.

Down the river at Soundview Park

Where the Bronx River meets the East River, 205-acre Soundview Park adds two more free options. The NYRR Open Run, a free, volunteer-led 5K for runners and walkers, starts every Saturday at 8:45 a.m. from the Lafayette Avenue and Morrison Avenue entrance, with sign-up through New York Road Runners. On Sunday, Nov. 8, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the Urban Park Rangers lead a Fall Foliage Hike there, explaining the ecology of a fall forest and why leaves change color. It meets at Lafayette and Colgate Avenues and needs no registration.

Getting there

Concrete Plant Park runs along the west bank of the river at Westchester Avenue, next to the Whitlock Avenue stop on the 6 train, and Starlight Park is just north on Sheridan Boulevard. Dress for the water, since a November paddle can be cold, and arrive early on Saturday if you want a seat in the first wave.

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