The USA is celebrating a big birthday next year at a turn 250 years old, but the celebrations are starting early today.

Northern Kentucky kicked off the America's River Roots Festival, which is bringing a taste of the river culture to the region.

Our Emily Sisk has details from Newport.

America's the River Roots Festival is making its way to northern Kentucky this week.

The festival is a kickoff for the 250th birthday of the United States.

Newport Mayor Tom Dooley said the festival is celebrating history and recognizing the significance of waterways like the Ohio River.

I think that the river is the root of how all of the cities began in the early days.

That was the way that you traveled quickly and effectively, especially downriver, and you found new communities.

This is about who we are and where we came from.

It's a story of this region, Northern Kentucky, and it is a story of the American River culture that has led to so many things that make this country successful.

Organizers said the Ohio River contributed greatly to the success of Newport, and that's one of the reasons Newport wanted to be the host on the Kentucky side of the river.

If you think about this region, if you know its history before the railroad, this was the sixth largest city in America.

Right here in this spot was the Newport Bank.

That's where people connected.

And this was a port of safety that protected the entire region.

That historic location will transform over the next few days.

Bringing in music is food and, of course, riverboats.

As a child, I can remember seeing the steamboat Natchez in New Orleans and hearing those sounds.

So to see that in my own town is really, really unique.

The first thing you're going to experience is both sides of a river activated and very, very easy to travel between both sides.

We will have a major bourbon tent with distilleries from all over the Commonwealth.

Nobody's going away hungry or bored after this event.

Festival organizers expect to see visitors from all across the state, along with neighboring Tennessee and Ohio.

The River roots celebration will come to a close on Sunday.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Emily Sisk.