On April 22, 2023, the Winchester Conservation Commission sponsored its annual Aberjona Day cleanup of the river and ponds. The event was also the beginning of the "Waterfield Festival", a celebration of arts and culture in the Winchester Cultural District with the theme of "water" that will extend through the summer and fall.
This year's Aberjona Day featured the creation of two public "found art" sculptures, a heron, built by Stephanie Timmermann, and a herring, built by August Westner. The sculptures were filled with some of the debris that was removed from the waterways that day—an illustration of the magnitude of the problem of trash. Much of that trash, particularly the plastic debris, is consumed by local animals such as herons and herrings, and can cause them serious harm.
The Waterfield Festival encompasses the annual "Photoville" exhibition of photography and a continuation of the Griffin Museum's terrace series of performances, and also includes an exhibition of sculptures along the Aberjona Riverway that will be accompanied by Augmented Reality artworks created both by AR professionals and residents.