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Middletown Life

Rocktober in Middletown

Jan 01, 2015 01:07PM ● By Kerigan Butt

Hung Jury will headline the fourth annual Rocktoberfest, which will be held on Oct. 4.

By Richard L. Gaw

Staff Writer

For the last three Octobers, the Rocktoberfest in Middletown has served as the town's mini version of Delaware's Firefly Festival, its very own homage to the idea of communal gathering and the love of music.

For the festival promoters, it's also served as an Etch-a-Sketch board of changes, tweaks and improvements, done with the intention of drawing larger and more diverse audiences year after year. Promoters are saying that this year's Rocktoberfest, on Oct. 4, promises to be the best ever.

"We've kind of morphed it over the past three years," said Tracy Skrobot, festival organizer and program director for Middletown Main Street. "Our first year was 2011, and we started it as a two-day event in the Home Depot parking lot.  The following year, we added carnival rides and kids areas. We found that it was too hard to get the people there, and going two days was just too much for us. We're very confident that this year, the event will focus so much more on the music."

Headlined by Hung Jury, a sod-stomping, Earth-quaking countrified rock band from Delaware, this year's Rocktoberfest will also include music by Three Day Weekend, featuring Chuck Kuzminksi of CKuz Guitars; the Stone's Throw Band from the Stone's Throw Church; The Terribles; and Paul and Alyssa Lewis, a father and daughter duo from Middletown. The music kicks off at noon at the Middletown Square and runs until 11 p.m., and will also include a corn hole tournament, a car show, food vendors, and a beer and wine tent.

The event, held as a fundraiser for Main Street Middletown and the Middletown Chamber of Commerce, is intended to serve as an entertainment backdrop to the work of the two entities to develop Downtown Middletown as an incubator for emerging businesses and cultural opportunities.     

"Middletown is a great cultural town, and when an event happens that benefits the community at large, the people all come together," said Roxanne Ferguson, executive director for the Middletown Chamber of Commerce. "Last year, we had about 1,000 attend Rocktoberfest. We're anticipating an even larger crowd this year."

Ferguson said that in addition to drawing the community to the downtown area, the event will raise funding for future music programs on Main Street, and a portion of the proceeds will go toward scholarship programs for local students.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, e-mail [email protected].

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