Labor Day weekend and the American Powerboat Association’s championships are once again united in Kankakee.

At this past weekend’s APA national meeting, Kankakee was awarded a three-year commitment to host the APRA’s national championship races in the Kankakee River.

The stretch of water between the Kankakee Country Club and near the Aqua Illinois water plant, the races will be held here at least through Labor Day 2029, Kankakee Mayor Chris Curtis announced at the conclusion of Monday’s Kankakee City Council meeting.

And as icing on top to the celebration cake, Kankakee was also honored by the association as hosting the 2025 APA Race Site of the Year.

Many people might say the Kankakee River is where the championship boat racing belongs, as this site had been the longtime home of championship boat racing until the event was lost in 2013.

Kankakee had hosted powerboat racing events for some 30 years prior to the stoppage in 2013.

Following an 11-year hiatus, the American Powerboat Association returned to Kankakee in 2024. The association then committed to the Kankakee race site for 2025 and for 2026.

The just-announced three-year commitment will be for the APA’s championship and will be for the years 2027, 2028, and 2029.

Qualifying racing will take place the Saturday of the holiday weekend, and championship races will be held on Sunday.

Curtis, who attended the APA’s national meeting in New Orleans this past weekend. He was hoping Kankakee would claim the racing site of the year, but his chief objective was to gain a two-year commitment with the racing association.

Gaining a three-year commitment was more than he had hoped to claim.

Labor Day weekend 2026 will be Sept. 5-7.

Curtis said he was aware the Kankakee Regatta was in contention for the race site of the year.

“I was in shock,” he said of the honor. He would say the same about gaining the APA commitment.

He said the regatta will “promote heavy and hard” for the upcoming years of racing.

“We’ve learned a lot over the past two years,” he said.

But ultimately having the championship for a stretch of five years will allow the organizations involved to refine what they can and hope to do.

“The right things are going on here. This is good for the city and good for the region.”

And with Kankakee County being stuck in the deep freeze in recent weeks, Curtis is eager for warming weather and the sound of boats on the river.

“I’m done with the cold,” he said. The next of the business, he said, will be working toward gaining sponsorship commitments.

When Curtis became mayor in 2021, one of his missions was bringing the regatta back to the banks of the Kankakee River.