A tradition running for 30-plus years that draws a thousand people annually to Wilck’s Lake in Farmville was in full swing Saturday as a large fleet of canoes and kayaks populated the water — it was the Appomattox River Company Demo Day.

“I always call it the Big Demo Day, because it’s the biggest one probably in the country …” Appomattox River Company (ARC) Marketing Manager Brian Vincent said.

He noted the company holds the demo day every year on the second Saturday in June at Wilck’s Lake.

“Industry reps, sales managers, pro staff, a lot of the pro fishermen for each kayak fishing company, stuff like that, are all here, so it allows them to map that out on their calendar every year,” Vincent said.

Lining the shore are tents bearing the name brands of different kayaks and canoes. A lot of these manufacturers have brought their demo fleets for people from near and far to try out.

“It’s all representative of what we have in stock at the Farmville store,” Vincent said, referring to ARC’s main location. “One of the reasons this is such a big event is because Appomattox River Company has one of the largest inventories of paddle craft in the country, so it makes it extremely worthwhile for these vendors to show up and bring their demos here, because they know that it turns into people on the water using their products later.”

Vincent said the purpose of the event is two-fold for ARC — creating a fun, horizon-expanding outdoor opportunity for people and making sales.

“It’s exposing a bunch of people to something they may not have been exposed to before as far as kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, whatever,” he said. “For us, I think part of that satisfaction is in seeing people get excited about being outside, recreating, paddling, but there’s a sales aspect to it, for sure. It’s one of our busiest sales days, and so there’s that side as well.”

He alluded to a kindred spirit among ARC and the vendors on hand that went beyond the desire to conduct business.

“A lot of it’s tied in to just all these people are here because they’re passionate about paddle sports, and they get to share that with a huge base of folks, and we all enjoy doing that,” Vincent said.

Many different kinds of watercraft navigated the lake Saturday as people waited in lines on the shore for their opportunity to go next.

Giving an idea of the demo fleet’s variety, Vincent said, “There’s canoes, kayaks, stand up paddle boards, there’s fishing kayaks, there’s just your standard recreational kayaks, or sit insides, sit on tops, there’s tandems, there’s pedal kayaks … stand up paddle boards that you pedal … so it’s kind of a little bit of everything.”

Those in attendance shared what they were enjoying about the event.

Consuelo Alvarez was seriously considering making a purchase and said it is nicer to try what you’re going to buy instead of just looking in the store.

“It can make a big difference,” she said.

Susan Markham came from Richmond with her dog, The Ripper, to test out crafts at the demo day for the first time.

She said she enjoyed a stand up option that allowed her to propel the craft forward by pumping pedals with her feet, similar to a stair stepper.

“It’s a major workout — feet, muscles that don’t get worked much,” she said.

She was enjoying the opportunity to sample the variety of crafts on hand before choosing what she liked best.

“I’m going to recover and ride the other one and decide,” she said.

Jon Kean, of Wylliesburg, was attending the ARC Demo Day for the first time.

“I got into kayak fishing a few years ago, and I fished down around Hatteras and all a lot, and I’ve been fishing the Staunton River some too and heard they got the demo day, so I’ll figure out what other ones out here I might like,” he said.

He brought his 7-year-old son, Tanner, and both of them tested out various options on the water.

Jon Kean said the event could result in a purchase, if not that day then some point later, especially to get something for Tanner.