‘Rock the Park’ set for Saturday at Bullard
Photo by Tom Rivers: Calvin Nichols sings classic rock songs with the Rock Soulgers during Rock the Park on Aug. 4, 2018. Four bands and five other acoustic acts will perform Saturday at Bullard from 3 to 11 p.m.
ALBION – Bands and acoustic performs will be rocking this Saturday at Bullard Park in the sixth annual Rock the Park.
The annual event has been rebranded to the Albion Summer Festival featuring Rock the Park. There will be food and alcohol vendors as well (and also nonalcoholic drinks). There also are many arts and crafts vendors.
Rock the Park was initially spearheaded by the Albion Lions Club in an effort to raise funds for upgrading Bullard Park. Contractors are currently working on $800,000 in improvements to the park, including a new amphitheater, splash park, pavilion and utility building.
The construction has shifted the musicians and vendors to the east side of the park. The amphitheater will be available for next year’s music event.
“With the construction going on people are seeing the results of what was the reason for doing this,” said Zack Burgess, co-chairman of the event with Ron Albertson.
Burgess has booked many of the bands and performers. He is a member of the band Zero, which performs at 5:30 at the 120-by-40-foot beer tent. Four bands will play in the beer tent from 3 to 11 p.m.
There also is a smaller tent, 40-by-20-foot, for five acoustic acts to perform from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
All of the bands and acoustic acts have a connection to Albion or Orleans County, Burgess said.
“This will really be a celebration of the local musicians,” he said. “It is rare to see so many on the same stage on the same day.”
The committee for the festival wants to keep building on the event. Last year’s Rock the Park attracted about 500 to 600 people. Albertson and Burgess said donations are up this year from sponsors and the event’s social media pages have nearly doubled the traffic from last year.
“We’ve gained momentum, and you don’t want to slow down momentum once you got it going,” Albertson said. “I think we’ll have a fantastic turnout, I really do.”
Admission for Rock the Park is free, except for a $5 charge to enter the beer tent.
The full schedule includes:
11 a.m. – Festival opens
11 a.m. – Craft and artisan vendors open
11 a.m. – Food vendors open
11 a.m. – Gregg Albertson plays the acoustic stage
11:45 a.m. – Unorthodox plays the acoustic stage
12:30 p.m. – Highway 31 plays the acoustic stage
1 p.m. – Kids games open
1:15 p.m. – What About Jane plays the acoustic stage
2 p.m. – Burial Harbor plays the acoustic stage
3 p.m. – Beer Tent opens
3 p.m. – Shotgun Pauly plays the beer tent stage
4:15 p.m. – The Trellis Cooper Band plays the beer tent stage
5 p.m. – Craft and Artisan Vendors close
5:30 p.m. – Zero plays the beer tent stage
6:45 p.m. – The Who Dats play the beer tent stage
8:30 p.m. – 7th Heaven plays the beer tent stage
11 p.m. – Festival closes
