2019 Roots & Rhythm Featured Visual Artist: Samuelle Green
Place Your Bets! A Roots & Rhythm Fundraiser
HONESDALE, PA – Down the stretch we come, folks. Roots & Rhythm is excited to announce a fundraising event on Friday, February 1 at 6:00 p.m. (add to my calendar)
The free, annual music & arts festival in Honesdale relies on donations, grants and sponsors in order to deliver a memorable experience each year.
Place Your Bets! will be held at Here & Now Brewing Company. Sponsorships are still available for businesses or individuals who want to join in the heart-pumping action.
During the event multiple random pre-recorded horse races will be shown on the big screen. Each race will have sponsors and the cost to sponsor is $75. Your sponsorship will be announced at the beginning of each race and in print in the event program. Thanks to the folks at Canaltown for providing the big screen for the races!
The money raised will allow Roots & Rhythm to grow as an organization and festival. After 13 years of great success, the board and committee hope to have a presence in the arts and music community all year long. The funds will also be directed toward the continued growth of the festival in June, making it bigger and better each year.
Details regarding how the race night event works are below. If you do not wish to be a sponsor, please consider “purchasing” a horse and coming out for the evening to bet on the races. There will also be a raffle with great prizes including a YETI cooler.
Thank you for considering being a part of a special night as well as your continued support of music and arts in Honesdale!
How does Place Your Bets! work?
- Each horse race has 10 horses. Owning a horse only costs $10. The owner of each horse gets to name their horse. The winning owner of each race will receive $40.
- Before each race the betting windows open. Anyone can bet $2 on any horse in each race to win. You can bet on multiple horses in any race.
- When the betting window closes, odds will be calculated and announced for each horse. When the race ends, anyone who bet on the winning horse will receive the calculated payout specific to the race.
- Then, the owner of the winning horse and anyone who bet on the winning horse will receive their winnings. Then the process will continue. There will be 8-10 races in the evening.
For more information hit up Ryan @ ryan.festivaltown@gmail.com
Time for 13th Annual Roots & Rhythm
HONESDALE, PA – It’s here! The free music and arts festival that’s been entertaining visitors to downtown Honesdale for a dozen years is back for its 13th year (lucky!) with a trip back to some of the Main Stage performers’ roots.
Honesdale Roots & Rhythm Music & Arts Festival is pleased to have neighbors to the north, The Sadies, headlining this year’s festival. Three additional bands are playing the main stage, two of which have roots in Honesdale. Sour Bridges (featuring the Pucci brothers from Honesdale),The Whiskey Killers (featuring Pack Samptson of Honesdale) & Bobby Kyle & the Administers round out the Main Stage acts. Honesdale Roots & Rhythm officially opens at 10:30 Saturday morning, June 16 with bands throughout downtown along Main Street.
There is so much more to Roots & Rhythm (just like the 12 years before) including including Artist Row on 9th Street. There will be an interactive community art project led by Paul Venditti and Kelsey Renniger, live drawing and painting demonstrations by John Kascht, live demonstrations of clay-throwing by James Spencer (our featured visual artist) of The Bodhi Tree Art School & Studio and tattooing by Dan Nelson of American House. Not to mention other talented artists selling their wares.
You won’t go hungry at Roots & Rhythm either with 10th Street full of vendors offering everything you might want to savor along with the music & art in the park. The festival strives each year to be a zero-waste event thanks to the efforts of a dedicated crew who want to put the environment first and foremost in our minds.
This non-profit event is totally free of charge, put on entirely by volunteers and supported by sponsors, donors and grants.
See you Saturday!
Gaining Insight Through Pottery – June 8th
Homecoming for 13th Annual Roots & Rhythm
HONESDALE, PA – Honesdale Roots & Rhythm Music & Arts Festival is going to be here before we know it. Following our announcement of this year’s headliners, The Sadies, the Roots & Rhythm Board is happy to announce three additional bands playing the main stage, two of which quite literally have roots in Honesdale.
Continue reading “Homecoming for 13th Annual Roots & Rhythm”
The Sadies to Headline 13th Annual Roots & Rhythm
HONESDALE, PA – Honesdale Roots & Rhythm Music & Arts Festival is proud to welcome The Sadies as the headliners for this year’s community event on June 16th, 2018.
The Sadies, an alt-country band out of Toronto, combine a punk rock attitude with awe-inspiring beauty and mystery, much like their most recent album cover Northern Passages, which encompasses the full beauty of the Aurora Borealis. The bands quartet is comprised of singer/guitarists Dallas and Travis Good, bassist Sean Dean and drummer Mike Belitsky.
Continue reading “The Sadies to Headline 13th Annual Roots & Rhythm”
Honesdale Roots & Rhythm Receives Villaume Grant
The Honesdale Roots & Rhythm Music & Arts Festival is proud and extremely grateful to receive a grant from The John and Helen Villaume Foundation. The Foundation has supported the free music and arts festival in downtown Honesdale through its charitable giving in past years.
Jeremy Watson, Honesdale Roots & Rhythm board member, received a check for $5,000 from Villaume Foundation board members Paul Edwards and Jon Villaume.
The John and Helen Villaume Foundation established by Honesdale natives, John and Helen Villaume, is dedicated to benefit charitable, religious, scientific, literary and educational programs within Wayne County.
The 2018 music and arts festival will be held on Saturday, June 16.
Honesdale Roots & Rhythm Roots Welcomes New Board Members
The Honesdale Roots & Rhythm Music & Arts Festival is pleased to welcome five new members to its Board of Directors: Bonnie Taylor, Jeremy Watson, Kylie Amatuzzi, Cheryl Batcher and Shawn Caden. The incoming group will join returning board members Jamie Stunkard, Randy Kohrs, Ruth Dunn and Bill Bellhorn.
“We are excited to have new ideas on the board,” said Jamie Stunkard, last year’s festival chair, “Each of our new members brings a diverse set of skills and talents.”
Honesdale Roots & Rhythm is the area’s premier free music and arts festival. Founded in 2006, the festival has grown every year and draws more than 6,000 attendees. Its board and committee members are all volunteers. Bonnie Taylor, assistant trust officer with the Wealth Management Department of Wayne Bank, headed up the Raffle Committee last year and is looking forward to expanding the raffle’s offering this year. Jeremy Watson, who works in real estate, and Kylie Amatuzzi, a teacher, are newcomers to the festival but are very enthusiastic.
“I’ve always enjoyed Roots & Rhythm, it’s such a great event for the community,” says Amatuzzi, “I’m honored to be chosen to be involved at the board level.”
Cheryl Batcher, the owner of Camp Umpy’s Bagels and Wash ‘n’ Fold, and Shawn Caden, a musician and music instructor, round out the slate of new members.
Stunkard thanked outgoing members Gail Bradley, Deb Bailey, Brian Fulp and Lisa Champeau who have all pledged to be available to help throughout the year and especially day-of-festival if needed.
Roots & Rhythm is funded through grants, sponsorships and donors. For more information visit honesdalerootsandrhythm.com.
Roots Board Thanks Retiring Members, Issues Call for New Members
“It’s been a great ride! And I hope it continues with others in the drivers’ seats,” says Gail Bradley, a co-founder of Honesdale Roots & Rhythm Music & Arts Festival. The festival just concluded its 12th year, and Bradley expects next year will be even better—with others at the helm. Bradley is retiring from the Board, along with Deb Bailey, Brian Fulp and Lisa Champeau. Bailey and Fulp have been with Roots & Rhythm from its humble beginnings in 2006. While Champeau only joined the Board in 2014, she has worked on the media committee since 2008.
“The Roots board is one of the hardest-working—and most fun— I’ve ever been involved with,” says Champeau. “To produce a free-of-charge, green, sustainable music and arts festival year after year that today brings about 6,000 people into Honesdale is nothing short of remarkable.” Champeau had particular praise for Bradley, Bailey and Fulp—who “were there at the beginning, never gave up and expanded the festival’s offerings each year.”
The remaining members of the Board – Jamie Stunkard, Randy Kohrs, Bill Bellhorn and Ruth Dunn—are now looking for board replacements for the outgoing members. “We have many committees – Food, Media, Art, Tunes & Tales—and we hope some of the folks on those committees will be interested in stepping up to the board role,” says Stunkard. “There’s a lot of young, enthusiastic and community-minded talent in Honesdale. Some of them are already invested in Roots. We would encourage them to help the festival evolve to the next level.”
Board members meet throughout the year, although meetings are more frequent closer to the festival, which happens the third Saturday in June. They also attend committee meetings. If you or someone you know is interested in joining the board, send an email explaining your interest and qualifications to ghp@visithonesdalepa.com. All candidates must be nominated by a committee member. The nomination process includes an interview. Nominations are due by September 8.
Free Outdoor Movie Night!
(Honesdale, PA, June 9, 2017)… Honesdale Roots & Rhythm Music & Arts Festival is proud to announce a free outdoor-movie night on Friday, June 16, the night before the 12th annual Honesdale Roots & Rhythm festival. Continue reading “Free Outdoor Movie Night!”