New Rock Falls summer festival, George Fest, debuts Saturday

A brand new summer festival debuting Saturday, July 26, in downtown Rock Falls will feature a special guest – Chicken George.

Matt Prescott of Candlelight Inn Restaurants created the new event, dubbed George Fest and named after his restaurants’ famous chicken tender recipe. It will run from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, with events including a Chicken George eating contest, car and craft shows, a bags tournament, food and drink vendors, kids activities and live music.

Tickets are $10 if bought ahead of time or $15 at the door. They can be found at any Candlelight Inn location, Palmyra Pub and Mad Water Saloon in Dixon and at any business along West Second Street from First Avenue to Fourth Avenue in Rock Falls, Prescott said.

“There’s two things that really matter to me in my community. One is the people in my community, and the other is I want to see the businesses thrive down on that road [Second Street],” Prescott said.

Prescott said his goal is to have 2,000 people out on that road Saturday.

“That’s a lot of people in Rock Falls,” he said. “I want people to come out. Have a great time, enjoy the day. The thing that makes me the happiest when I can put together a big community event is hopefully that those that attend get to meet somebody in their community.”

Live music will begin at 5 p.m. on West Second Street, blocked off for the event, and is only for those ages 21 or older. The three bands scheduled are local group ALBORN, Nashville rock band The Royal Hounds and country singer Jutt Huffman, Prescott said.

“It’s not a great time for the bar business so I’m hoping to give them the best day they have all year,” he said. “There’s other businesses down that road that people don’t even know exists. We want them all to get exposure.”

Prescott has committed to hosting the new event every summer for the next three years. His hope is to grow it into a full weekend event, he said.

“The support from the community has been amazing. This is a big undertaking. We’re learning. We’re getting through it,” Prescott said. “You realize how much it takes to put one of these on from the mayor to the city manager, to the police department, the fire department, EMTs.”

Event schedule

• Car show at the McCormick Event Center with registration at 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m. judging, 2 p.m. awards.
• Bags tournament in downtown Rock Falls starting at 11 a.m. with check-in at 10 a.m.
• Craft show at the McCormick Event Center open from noon to 4 p.m.
• Kids’ activities held in the lot next to McCormick center, across from the RB&W District Park, from noon to 3 p.m.
• Chicken George eating contest at 3 p.m.
• Live music starts at 5 p.m. on West Second Street.

For information, visit the event’s Facebook page.