Third annual Rock Fest brings energy, omits zip line

By Jessica Nunes and Austin Boland-Ferguson

The warm weather, reminiscent of summer, made an electrifying Friday night possible for the Rider community. 

On April 13, Rider held its third annual Rock Fest sponsored by the Student Entertainment Council (SEC) on the Campus Green. According to sophomore business education major and SEC member Carmelo Burrafato, the event drew a crowd of over 700 people. 

“We wanted [Rock Fest] to be bigger and better than ever, of course,” he said, “[with] more fun things to do and more of a reason to stay.”

The event supplied free food and a wide range of activities. Rock Fest was headlined by its traditional live music and bonfire, with this year’s music being performed by local band Steal the Sky.

Other activities included rock climbing, a fireworks display, mechanical bull riding, a blow-up basketball game and an inflatable wrecking ball for people to swing on. 

Liam Bloodgood, a freshman dance major, said, “One thing that I wish they had at Rock Fest was a bouncy house and a zip line, which I heard was so much fun at last year’s [event].”  

Sarah Buffaloboy, a sophomore political science major, said, “I definitely enjoyed my time at Rock Fest more than Cranberry Fest. There are so many more activities and things to do that make time fly by.” 

 As the night came to a close, people started to munch on s’mores and watch fireworks.

Bloodgood said,“I think Rock Fest is better than Cranberry Fest because it gave me nostalgia about going home and having fun like I do at a carnival. I also think that there are more activities to do. My favorite part about going to Rock Fest, since this is my first year, was grabbing a slice of pizza and sitting down to watch the fireworks.” 

In years past, Rock Fest has had many other activities that included zip lining, people throwing fire sticks and lawn games.

Buffaloboy said, “I went to Rock Fest last year, and I had so much fun on the zip line; I wish they had the zip line this year.”

Burrafato explained the reasoning behind its absence.

“The line last year was too crazy,” he said. “Plus the zip line was all the way in the back for safety reasons, so it took away from the central area — the stage, games and food.”

Despite this, Burrafato was pleased with the turnout of Rock Fest. 

“We really got a lot of people to come out, which is hard to do sometimes,” he said. “The weather could not have been more perfect, the band was so energetic. It was overall a very successful event.”

Published in the 4/18/18 edition.