BRISTOL — Organizers of Bristol’s fifth annual Pocock Rocks festival say the June 21 event is coming together slowly but surely.
“Everything is right on track,” said Kate Selby, executive director of the Bristol Downtown Community Partnership. “The bands are all locked in, and we have lots of great food vendors, nonprofits and local businesses coming.”
Selby said she is still looking for volunteers to help staff booths when vendors need a break, and also to help set up and tear down the event.
“Our biggest need is volunteers, to make sure it’s a successful day,” she said.
The event, which falls on the first day of summer, will run from 3-8 p.m. on Bristol’s Main Street, and feature more than 20 vendors. The food vendors include Will’s Lemonade, Aqua Vitea, Rainbow Ice, Lazy Farmer and Mo’s Backyard Barbeque.
“We’re going to fill the street,” Selby said.
Also on hand will be Vermont Victory Greenhouses, Vermont Skydiving Adventures, soap manufacturer Dorset Daughters, henna body artists Maple Mehndi, face painters from Vermont Face and Beauty, jewelers Wear It Well, and a new business called Yarn and Yoga, a yarn retailer and yoga studio.
For the age 21-and-over crowd, four vendors will sell alcohol — Shoreham-based WhistlePig, the Burlington Beer Company, Fiddlehead Brewing Company of Shelburne, and Champlain Orchards of Shoreham, which will be selling its hard cider.
Musical acts Abby Jenne, BandAnna, Gang of Thieves, Lynda Malzac, Patrick Fitzsimmons and Waylon Speed will be spread across two stages. Many of the musicians have ties to the five-town area.
The festival will include children’s games, a silent auction and demonstrations by blacksmith Lee Beckwith. Five nonprofits — Watershed Center, Mountain Health Center and Five Town Drug and Safety Alliance — will also be on hand.
For the festival, Main Street will be closed between North Street and Mountain Street, but motorists will be guided on detours through town to easterly destinations to the east and west. Additional parking will be available around downtown Bristol.
“We don’t actually block off Bristol, we create a detour,” Selby said.
Selby said she hopes the spell of beautiful weather holds for another week, but she’s not taking any chances.
“Everyone should do a sun and no-wind dance,” she said.
Pocock Rocks derives its name from the original name of Bristol, incorporated in 1762 and named after British Admiral George Pocock. In 2009, the festival won the Green Mountain Award for the Best New Event in Vermont.
Pocock Rocks is sponsored by several local businesses, including the Addison Independent. Other sponsors include the Heritage Auto Group, 99.9 The Buzz, the Bobcat Café and Stark Mountain.
See more online at discoverbristolvt.com/pocock-rocks.