NILES — A city hosting a summer festival is not a new idea.

Neither are most of the events at the inaugural Niles Summer Festival this Friday and Saturday. The structure of the festival has not been seen in recent years, however. The Niles Parks Board and the Niles DDA Main Street worked to bring singular events across the summer hosted by businesses and organizations in or around Niles together for a two-day festival celebrating the city.

Niles Parks Board Chair Heather Bosch said the idea stemmed from the Niles Riverfest, an event that “fizzled out,” she said.

That festival was best known for its dragon boat races, which pitted 18-person paddling teams — with one drummer each — against one another as they raced down the St. Joseph River on one-ton teak dragon boats.

While the dragon boats are no more, the event and larger festival made Bosch and others realize that a little coordination could bring a new festival to fruition.

“We have all these activities on different times during the summer, she said, mimicking what she thought when planning the festival. “If we would just bring them together and try to support local entities or local events all in one weekend, then maybe people who didn’t know, for instance, that there was a community picnic or didn’t know there was a community art day or didn’t know there was a lighted bridge bash dash, we bring it all together.”

At its core, the festival is meant to provide entertainment for all ages and interests while promoting and supporting local businesses and organizations, she said. That, in turn, helps promote, support and celebrate Niles.

“We also need activities not only adults, but for youth and families and everybody to come together,” Bosch said. “So, I think that this offers a little bit for everybody.”

The hub of the festival is Riverfront Park, but Bosch hopes to eventually expand the festival to include businesses, organizations and locations up and down the Indiana Michigan River Valley Trail, from Plym Park to the Fort St. Joseph dig site.

Events during this event, however, will kick off and largely stay at Riverfront Park.

The Fraternal Order of Eagles Auxiliary 2094 will host the first event, a beer tent, at noon outside its building.

At 5 p.m., a free community picnic featuring hot dogs, chips and lemonade will begin. Shortly after, Christian-influenced band Left 99 will perform.

Those not too bogged down by beer or summer food will then have the opportunity to race the Niles Lighted Bridge Dash at 8:45 p.m. One-mile walkers and 5K runners will all don glow-in-the-dark shoelaces before setting off on the Indiana Michigan River Valley Trail.

A trophy for the most dazzling, decorated participant will be given to complement the awards given to top finishers in age brackets and overall.

Following the race, the last iteration of Free Friday Movies in the Park will begin. The Niles DDA Main Street event will screen “The Princess Bride” in the park.

On Saturday, as the Eagles close its 10 a.m. to noon pancake breakfast, it will open up its beer tent, with a corn and sausage roast following.

The third annual John Lidecker Community Art Days will also open at noon and run until 3 p.m. Attendees will have the chance to create a variety of arts, from mosaic masks to shirt designs, courtesy of J&R Specialty Printing, to paint projects made from spinning vinyl records, courtesy of Rumor Has It.

Bosch, who is a lead organizer of the event, said Lidecker himself hosted the event for many years before he passed away. Now, the event is held in his honor.

“He was a big pillar and a local artist of our community,” she said. “He also had trash cleanups and picked up trash and was always trying to promote Niles being better.”

This year, Bosch will continue an event that Lidecker often did: allowing children to splatter her with paint.

When the Community Arts Days event ends at 3 p.m., an open car show will open, complete with door prizes awarded by three city leaders.

The weekend of events will close with a band much different than the event’s first. Hard rock band 5th & Syc will take the Riverfront Park amphitheater stage at 7:30 p.m.

Other businesses and events are also taking advantage of the event, whether intentionally or not.

Healthy Habits, Brass Eye and Iron Shoe Distillery are all offering deals this weekend.

Front Street Pizza is opening a tiki bar on its patio from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday.

On both Friday and Saturday, agility equipment will be available for use at the Ruff & Tumble Dog Park, courtesy of its eponymous nonprofit.

Finally, the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project will host its open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday off of Fort Street. Attendees can learn about the site’s history through reenactments and guided tours of the archaeological site of Fort St. Joseph.

“The idea was just to support Niles,” Bosch said.

She said that the parks board and Niles DDA Main Street were aware of residents’ concerns about parking during large events hosted at Riverfront Park. She said both groups made sure maximum parking was available at the park itself.