There's a Southeast Asian Water Festival in Lowell, Mass, which features traditional boat races.

The festival is expected to draw 50,000 to 60,000 visitors to Lowell's Merrimack River each year, a celebration of the river as a God in Southeast Asian culture.

Imagine bringing 50-60,000 people to downtown Elgin for something similar. The Lao community here can be joined by Thai, Cambodian and other communities in Chicagoland to host this event. This could be a good way to highlight Elgin's diversity and deliver traffic to downtown businesses. It would also highlight the downtown and especially the riverfront's revitalization.

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