St. Albertans will be rocking and rolling this weekend as city’s favourite classic car and music festival returns.
Hundreds of cars are rolling into town for Rock’n August, an annual celebration of music and classic cars in St. Albert.
For more than two decades, Rock’n August has been hitting the streets of St. Albert, bringing in a total of $1.4 million for diabetes research and bringing awareness to the cause, said Rock’n August president Rick Dory.
And while the weekend is an important piece of fundraising for the Alberta Diabetes Foundation, it’s also a rockin’ good time.
“It's nice to see all the smiles on the faces,” Dory said, noting he has been with the event for six years.
“It’s been a blast.”
Rock’n August started decades ago through the St. Albert Cosmopolitan Club and has since grown into a five-day festival with classic cars from around North America showcased during the event. It’s the festival of cars and music on the continent, Dory said.
For the price of a $5 button, car fans can attend events all week long and get a few free meals too.
“People buy buttons that help support Rock’n August. And with the purchase of a button, you get a punch card that entitles you to… serve up meals,” Dory said, adding you can get five meals throughout the event.
The vintage vehicle celebration kicked off on Tuesday Aug. 6 at Servus Place and Thursday morning will feature a pancake breakfast hosted by Ricky’s All Day Grill.
From 11 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. on Thursday (Aug. 7) afternoon St. Albert Dodge hosts Lunch With the Cars where car fans can check out a slew of classic cars on the Dodge car lot.
For those that are concerned they will miss the official Show’n Shine events on Friday and Saturday, Rock’n August offers another chance to have a look at all the showstopping vehicles.
The Fountain Tire Customer Appreciation Night is slated for Thursday, which is essentially another car show, said Dory.
“It’s a bunch of cars that join Rock’n August will park at Fountain Tire at the top of Green Grove Drive. All the way down the hill we close off Green Grove Drive,” Dory said, noting there are probably 300-400 cars in attendance on Thursday night.
And the band Running With Scissors will play some live music to keep all those in attendance entertained.
Classic car cruise and street dance
On Friday night ( Aug. 9)the big event kicks off with a classic car cruise through St. Albert. Starting at 6 p.m. hundreds of cars will take off from the Naki Transit Station and make their way downtown using Ray Gibbon Drive. Once downtown they will park for the evening.
“Last year I think he had about 600 cars,” Dory said, adding St. Anne Street and the downtown parking lot fills with the show vehicles.
“Every nook and cranny gets filled.”
M*A*R*S, a six piece band based in Edmonton, will headline on Friday night and will be playing all your favourite tunes from the ‘60s. The Dean Ray Band is the opening act for the night.
Those who can’t make it on Friday for the car cruise can make their way downtown on Saturday for the show and shine event to see even more cars than on Friday night.
“Saturday is our main show where we take over the river valley,” Dory said.
The president said they are expecting 900 cars to attend Saturday.
Dory said the car owners treat their vehicles as their pride and joy and are excited to show them off through the festival.
“Owners are usually pretty good at engaging with the spectators,” Dory said.
“They like to show it off and talk about it. A lot of them have built the cars themselves and they’ve put a lot of work into them. They’re proud of it,” Dory said.
The Show’n Shine wraps up at 3 p.m. and festivities then move to LB’s Pub in Akinsdale with bands on stage from 3 p.m. until 11 p.m. Silent auction items will be showcased for bidding, include memorabilia from drag race legend Terry Capp.
Park and ride will be available for the weekend and leaving from St. Albert Centre.
To see a full schedule of events visit rocknaugust.com
