ROCKINGHAM — Popular area bands including Rockingham’s own Ponder Project put the rock back in Rockingham Dragway Saturday night when racing gives way to recreation at the inaugural Pabst Blue Ribbon Red, White and Fun Southern Festival featuring the games your father probably didn’t play including toilet bowl basketball and hubcap tossing.
Gates open at noon and the music begins at 1 p.m. with Aberdeen’s James Bullard covering both old and new country songs on acoustic guitar. Moore County’s Nathan Dunn provides more feel good country thereafter before yielding to Charlotte-based Hardwired, Bristolina, a four-piece band out of Lexington that plays everything from the Beatles to Chris Stapleton, and, finally, Ponder Project, which delivers rock-and-roll, rhythm and blues, funk and even a little Top 40.
There will be plenty of action off-stage as well with a cornhole tournament, Moon Pie-eating contest, a truck show with 20 different classes, a burnout contest, Smoke at the Rock barbecue cook-off, a Mountain Dew chugging contest, sack races, wheelbarrow races, toilet lid toss, cigarette-flicking contest, races on giant tricycles and miniature bicycles and tire-rolling contests.
There will also be multiple bounce houses in a dedicated Bounce Zone, open time trials on the Rockingham track and trophies for the best Daisy Dukes and the best mullet.
Adult admission is just $10. Children 6-12 are $5 and those five and under are free when accompanied by a ticketed adult.
So, grab the sunscreen and the kids and head on out to help The Rock say sayonara to summer in true red, white and Pabst Blue Ribbon-style.