Rock Around the Park

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The 2019 Rocktoberfest crowd. This one will be bigger

September 20, 2022

By Barrett Seaman—

In addition to pandemic-induced pent-up demand for a good old-fashioned outdoor party, Irvington this year has a birthday to celebrate—its 150^th as an incorporated village. What better way to celebrate than at a revival of Rocktoberfest, the village’s fall frolic held at Matthiessen Park on the river?

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Emerging from the two-year COVID-induced hiatus, having a birthday and having it in the village’s recently refurbished Matthiessen Park (now at last open to non-residents), the village’s FACE (Fundraising and Community Events) committee, which has produced previous Rocktoberfests and mid-winter Penguin Plunges as well as raise money for other community activities, knew going in it would have to go big—and it did.

Starting at noon on Saturday, September 24^th, and running until 10:00 p.m., the 2022 edition will feature ten food trucks, Funflatables for the kids, six bands, including Bruce Springsteen’s B Street Band (but alas not The Boss himself) and fireworks.

Since it is a birthday, the Irvington Historical Society will be on hand with samples of its upcoming Gilded Age exhibition, a blow-up of a 19^th century map of the rivertowns and an educational storyboard about the life and times of Isabel K. Benjamin, once known as the “First Lady of Irvington,” that was produced by two Irvington Girl Scouts.

Inasmuch as headline bands and fireworks don’t come cheap, there will be an entry fee–$10 for an individual, $25 for a family (no matter now big). Guests can pay by cash or credit card at the gate, and there will be multiple pay stations so as to minimize bottlenecks.

Food and drink will be abundant. There will be pizza, crepes, soft serve ice cream as well as lobster, among other foods. There will be beer, wine, hard seltzer and soft drinks. The bands will start playing in early afternoon. The headlining B Street Band will end the evening, doing sets on either side of the fireworks display that will begin at about 8:00 p.m. By the 10:00 p.m. end time, most people should be very ready for bed.