Like carnage? It doesn’t get any better than at the Ocoee Carnage Party September 1 at Highway 64 Gym in Copperhill, Tennessee, an annual event where raft guides, boaters, and other outdoors enthusiasts around the Ocoee River come together to celebrate the year’s best Ocoee River whitewater carnage.
Going on for over twenty years, and entering its third year organized by Gnarnivores, the event culminates with the viewing of the annual Ocoee Carnage Video. And there are plenty of followers who like the carnage; the Gnarnivores Instagram page currently has around 230,000 followers.
“It’s the biggest annual whitewater event on the Ocoee River,” says Gnarnivores’ Will Phillips. “It’s a celebration of the Ocoee boaters, raft guides, and whitewater community with an emphasis on what Ocoee boaters do best: carnage.”
The event, he adds, attracts around 500 people each year, complete with vendors and raffle giveaways. But the highlight is always the premiere of the annual carnage video highlighting the season’s best rafting flips, wipeouts, and mishaps. “The atmosphere of the event during the video is simply electric; there’s no other event quite like it,” he says.
As with the caliber of the carnage, the event has several levels of sponsorship ,from bronze level to gold. It also serves up a swag-filled raffle, giving away oodles of product, with the highest-valued item recognized on the Gnarnivores Instagram story and announced as the raffle grand prize. A portion of raffle proceeds benefit various whitewater nonprofit organizations.
“The Ocoee Carnage Party is a great way to reach the whitewater boating and outdoor community in the Southeast,” says Phillips, adding sponsorship support and vendor booths have been growing every year.
