News - Entertainment - Ticket

Friday, Aug. 22, 2008

Stick around: Bid a fond farewell to summer with York festival

From staff reports

The 25th annual Summerfest, the White Rose City’s annual summer send-off, is this weekend in downtown York, and organizers are expecting up to 50,000 visitors to attend the festivities.

Summerfest will celebrate its Silver Anniversary from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday with live music, a 5K Run, Fun Run, Classic Car Show, Giant Scale Fly-In, hot-air balloon rides and more.

Also, more than a 100 arts, crafts and food vendors from across the Southeast will be selling handmade products and festival foods. The selection ranges from handmade jewelry and homemade soda to bird houses and pottery.

As a juried festival, Summerfest organizers take the time to make sure all products are handmade and that there aren’t too many vendors selling the same products, said Paul Boger, executive director of Greater York Chamber of Commerce, which organizes Summerfest.

The entertainment lineup features a variety of musical selections to please the most ardent fan. Flash Back performs your favorite beach music tonight during Downtown Live at Whitesides parking lot.

Then, on Saturday the music takes place on two stages and at Sylvia Theater.

The Oneppo Brothers will take the stage all day by the Classic Car show.

Then, over on the Main Street Stage, you’ll find a wide variety of local talent, from The Tim Hartis Group taking the listener back to the swing and Latin jazz standards. Highway 61 Blues Band follows with an assortment of blues and rock selections featuring the guitar skills of 13-year-old Jake Haldenwang. The Burford Brothers String Band, headed by York attorney Charles Bradford, will conclude the day with bluegrass and old-time string music.

In addition to the established music acts performing at this year’s Summerfest will be 15 anxious country music contestants hoping to get their voices heard at Sylvia Theater during the 27th annual Colgate Country Showdown, a national competition that searches for country music’s next big star. There will be three rounds at the Showdown, with contestants narrowed first from 15 to 10, then to 5, before the top three are crowned. Contestants will be judged on five aspects: marketability in country music, vocal/instrumental ability, originality of performance, their stage presence and their actual talent.

During Summerfest, Congress Street will be closed from Kings Mountain Street to Jefferson Street. Liberty Street will be closed from White Rose Lane to Roosevelt Street. Roosevelt Street will be closed from Madison Street to Liberty Street.

Schedule of events

Today

• Antique Show, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 108 E. Liberty St.

• Yorkville Art Guild Open Art Competition and Sale, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., McCelvey Center, 212 E. Jefferson St. Continues Saturday and Sunday.

• 22nd annual Summerfest Golf Tournament, noon, Spring Lake Country Club

• Summerfest Tennis Championship, 5:30 p.m., York Comprehensive and Clover high school courts. Continues Saturday and Sunday.

• Greater York Chamber of Commerce Downtown Live!, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., Whitesides parking lot, featuring the beach and Motown music of Flashback.

• First Presbyterian Church Community Variety Show and Bar-B-Q, 6 p.m., 10 W. Liberty St. Dinner at 6 p.m., variety show at 7 p.m.

• Moonlight Bike Ride, 8:30 p.m., a leisurely tour through historic York, followed by a stop for ice cream

Saturday

• Opening Ceremony, 10 a.m., steps of York County Courthouse

• Breakfast at Trinity United Methodist Church, 7 to 9:30 a.m., Trinity United Methodist Church, 22 E. Liberty St.

• 5K Run/Fun Run, 8 a.m./ 9 a.m., South Roosevelt Street

• Classic Car Show, 8 a.m., South Congress Street at the Agricultural Building

• Summerfest Invitational Softball Tournament, 9 a.m., York Recreation Complex, Fourth Street

• Giant Scale Fly-in, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Langrum Branch Road

• Antique Show, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 108 E. Liberty St.

• Craft and Food Fair, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., North Congress, East Madison and South Roosevelt streets

• Healthy Hometown, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., West Liberty Street beside the Courthouse

• Children’s Activities, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., lawn of the Greater York Chamber of Commerce, East Liberty Street

• Robotics Competition, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., parking lot of York Public Library, East Liberty Street

• Organ Concert by Tim Smith, 2 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd

• Hot-air Balloon Rides, 4:30 to 7 p.m., weather permitting, on the field at the rear of the McCelvey Center

• Graham’s Seafood Fish Fry, 4 to 8 p.m., First Baptist Church, 102 S. Congress St.

• 3-on-3 Basketball Tournaments, Barn Burner Classic, back parking lot of Harold C. Johnson Middle School

Entertainment on the Main Street Stage

• 9 to 10:30 a.m.,The Tim Hartis Group

• 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Highway 61 Blues Band

• 1 to 2:30 p.m., David Lambert & the Carolina Rails

• 3 to 5 p.m., The Burford Brothers String Band

Entertainment on the Car Show Stage

• 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., The Oneppo Brothers

Entertainment at Sylvia Theater

• 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Interstate 107 Colgate Country Showdown