ROANOKE, Va. – It was three great days of music, food and fun at the 53rd annual Roanoke Festival in the Park.
The area staple brings people across the region together for concerts all day long and organizers were pleased with the turnout this year despite numerous hurdles.
Music filled the air across Roanoke’s Elmwood Park Labor Day, bringing an end to the 53rd annual Festival in the Park. Timmy Greer came out with his family to enjoy the fun.
“You’re outdoors, you’re getting along with all your neighbors around you, you’re having some good times with some live entertainment and I think it’s all just a good environment,” Greer said.
The three-day festival usually kicks off summer on Memorial Day Weekend. But COVID forced organizer Skip Brown and his team to reschedule twice.
“We had to wait for the Governor to release outdoor events because they had been locked up until July, so he released it and we put together a year-long-planned event in a couple of months,” Brown said.
Crowds were down overall, but the festival still saw strong turnouts for the headliners on Saturday and Sunday nights. Brown said they’re thrilled with the showing, bearing COVID in mind. Organizers were particularly concerned about children in attendance.
“We had a thousand kid-sized masks, we had inflatables up top, we had a big petting zoo and it was a smash success up there so we’re thrilled,” Brown said.
Monday’s stage was devoted to local Roanoke Valley acts to perform in front of the hometown crowd. Greer comes to Elmwood Park often and is looking forward to more music in the coming year.
“I like the Elmwood Park feel, I like the summer concert series that they bring in here so I think it’s all a great time,” Greer said.
Planning is already underway for Memorial Day Weekend 2022. Festival organizers said they’re thankful to the community for their continued support.