The vintage roadsters, low riders and other classic cars have all driven off into the sunset to be parked in safe garages and under tarps for another year. This, the week after, is when organizers of St. Albert’s premiere festival of nostalgia are able to sit back and reflect on the success that was the 15th annual Rock’n August classic car festival.
The international car show and music festival was organized by the St. Albert Cruisers and the whole thing purred like a finely tuned engine. The week-long event wrapped up on Saturday after five days of good tunes, sweet rides and only a little bit of rain.
Ken Jones, the marketing representative for the Cruisers, said that it really couldn’t have gone much better than that.
“Everything went great!” he said enthusiastically. “The only real negative issue was Saturday morning and we had that rain shower, but by 10:30, it all cleared up and the cars came out of the woodwork.”
He said that the little bit of weather was the only reason that attendance at the show-and-shine at Lions Park was only slightly below expectations. He added that it would have been pretty hard to top 2010’s event anyhow, considering last year’s event was such a colossal hit.
“We had big shoes to fill there,” he said.
Roger Bradley also was pleased with the turnout and the overall impression from the general public and from within the club.
“Our events were very well attended. As a matter of fact, most or all of them were sold out or had increased participation over last year,” he said.
He added that the new show-and-shine venue in the park and along the river valley was also well received by the attendees.
Jones was skeptical that the Cruisers were able to reach their goal of raising $150,000 for the Alberta Diabetes Foundation, but a final tabulation of donations is still weeks to months in the distance. Rock’n August is a major fundraiser for the provincial charity that helps fund research into the disease.
Otherwise, they were both pleased with everything and said that planning for next year’s Rock’n August will start up in September.
For more information, call Bradley at 780-482-0334 or visit www.rocknaugust.com.
