Carnival of Soul

Rock Fest 2020 was set to take place from Wednesday through Saturday in Cadott, featuring some of the biggest names in rock and metal music.

Acts such as Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Disturbed, Staind, Papa Roach, Steel Panther, Fozzy, Anthrax and Snoop Dogg were set to hit the Rock Fest stage, but COVID-19 concerns forced the festival to cancel earlier this year.

Sara Jelinski said not being able to make the trek to the Cadott concert grounds this week is unfortunate as it is home to many people she doesn’t normally get to interact with on a daily basis.

“Rock Fest is a sense of normal for me for the week,” Jelinski said. “It’s a family that reunites to enjoy the music that we love so much and to see each other again. I will miss hearing and enjoying the music as much as the strangers who have turned into family.”

Longtime Rock Fest attendee, Stephanie Snodgrass said Rock Fest holds a special place in her heart because it is the birthplace of her marriage and an infinite amount of happy memories over the decades.

“I’ve been going since 1998 at 16 years old,” Snodgrass said. “I met my now hubby there in 2009, we started dating in 2012 and married in 2018. Rock Fest was featured on our cake. Our puppy that we got this year was named by Wade Asher and his staff. This is not only our anniversary week now, but it’s a family reunion. We miss all of you and I would be lying if tears hadn’t fallen multiple times this week.”

Rock Fest was postponed due to growing uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and the 2021 festival will now take place on July 15 through 17.

In an attempt to draw some happy memories from Rock Fest fans during the festival week, festival organizers asked for fans to share how many editions of the festival they’ve attended and some of their favorite memories from the events on their social media accounts.

Nearly 1,000 comments quickly rolled in from fans around the country.

One of Jason Cooper’s favorite memories from his experiences at Rock Fest is when harsh storms ravaged the festival during a set by southern rockers ZZ Top.

“One of the years of the bad storms everyone was trying to get out of the grounds, ZZ top was still playing and a bunch of us stuck around and I remember their beards were all going sideways because of 60 mile per hour winds,” Cooper said.

Larisa Potts had a similar stormy weather experience at Rock Fest in 2019, when bad weather forced postponement of events during the festival and eventually led to mud-drenched grounds and soggy late-night sets from Three Days Grace, Asking Alexandria, Bad Wolves, Breaking Benjamin and Five Finger Death Punch.

“Last year was my first year and my favorite memory was trekking through the mud with friends trying to find a shortcut to the camper and falling and almost losing my phone,” Potts said. “Then the next day watching the storms roll in over the event. The whole atmosphere was fantastic. So many crazy memories.”

Area rock station 92.9 the X, which also sponsors Rock Fest, is doing its part to keep the festival atmosphere alive this week by playing live music on-air from artists who were to be featured at the 2020 edition of the festival.

This week should have been filled with heavy music, good food and friendly people in Cadott, but just like most industries, COVID-19 has other plans.

Jim Johnson, a Rock Fest favorite known for his extensive autographed guitar collection and display, said everyone needs to remember the good times through this weekend, and 2021 will bring more music and good memories with it after this virus has passed.

“I think it’s all for the best in the long run,” Johnson said. “Waiting a year isn’t too bad of a thing if it keeps people safe. Next year is going to epic, though, so we will all get through this together. We just have to remember Rock Fests past and have that carry us through to next year.”