Huge turnout expected as Head of the Charles kicks off Friday

It’s sure to be a busy weekend in both Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, with the 59th Head of the Charles Regatta kicking off Friday morning.

You can watch a livestream of all the weekend's events here.

Over the three-day event, hundreds of thousands of spectators will come out to watch the races. And with this weekend’s beautiful, unseasonably warm weather, those numbers are expected to be even higher than normal.

Public transportation is encouraged, but if you’re driving in, be aware that Memorial Drive will be closed in both directions from Western Ave to Fresh Pond Parkway from 7 a.m. Saturday through 9 p.m. Sunday. And there will be lane restrictions on Soldiers Field Road throughout the weekend.

With more than 11,000 rowers and 2,400 volunteers, this will be a busy and exciting event.

Alex Dillon, who’s coaching and rowing this weekend said, “Just from a point of pride, that the whole rowing world gets to come to Boston for the weekend.”

Boston University Assistant Women’s Coach Ciara O’Sullivan said, “We lovingly call Head of the Charles “Rowing Christmas” because everyone comes home for it essentially. There’s athletes from the junior level all the way up to the Olympic level and everyone in between.”

The talent is unmatched in the world’s largest three-day regatta.

“We have, we believe, over 300 Olympians who will be competing over the course of the weekend. That includes Olympians from prior games going back to 1956, we believe we’ll have 100 Olympians from Paris alone. So there’s a lot of rivalries out there,” said Tori Stevens, Head of the Charles executive director.

Max Kreutzelman, who’ll be racing Sunday in the Cornell Men’s Alumni boat, said, “Two years ago I won the men’s four, so coming back here and racing this event just means everything to me.”

But there’s also talent from right here in the Hub, with BU teams launching from their own boathouse.

“It makes it exciting but also helps the stress go down a little bit because we know the course," BU rower Finn Berkhout said.

And all these athletes say for a sport that tends to be surrounded by tranquility and nature, seeing spectators cheering them on from the banks to the bridges along the entire three-mile course is surreal.

“It provides a lot of motivation, great to hear the sort of enthusiasm, yeah it’s really special, kind of brings an energy with it," Coach and rower Vass Ragoussis said.

All along the three-mile course, there will be various activities, music, food, drink, and shopping. And spectators will be able to watch countless races, from youth to college to elite and masters.

“As the world’s largest regatta on an incredibly challenging course, on the Charles River with seven bridges and twists and turns. I think the course itself is part of the whole story but what I think is if you talk to rowers that are coming in from all across the world to compete in the regatta, we have people ranging in age from 10 to 92, and it’s really a homecoming for all the rowing community, and I think that’s what makes it so special,” said Tori Stevens, the Head of the Charles executive director.