It will be a busy weekend along the Rogue River in Rockford. After being cancelled last year because of COVID-19, the Start of Summer Celebration is scheduled for THIS weekend!

It actually kicks off on Thursday, June 11th with Community Night. The food booths and carnival rides begin at 5 pm, with the rides continuing until 11 pm.

Friday, June 12th will be an action packed with the carnival rides in operation from Noon until 11 pm. There will also be a beer tent open during those same hours. Craft booths will be open from Noon- 7 pm and there will be pony rides and a petting zoo from Noon-4 pm. Later in the evening there will be live music beginning at 7 pm. The movie "Zootopia" will be the featured film at this year's Movie on the Rogue, at the Wolverine Worldwide Green Space. The film starts at 10 pm.

Things get started early on Saturday, June 13th. There will be a Rogue River Artists Art Show from 9 am-5 pm. Vintage baseball games start at 10 am. The Start of Summer Parade begins at 11 am. The parade will proceed south on Main Street to Courtland, east on Courtland to Monroe, and then north of Monroe Street. Following the parade will be a Fire Truck Pull at 12:30 pm.

At 12 Noon on Saturday the carnival rides open, the beer tent begins operations, and the pony rides and petting zoo are available. Live music will begin at 3:30 pm. The Rockford Rotary Big Daddy Duck Race is at 5 pm. The evening wraps up with fireworks at dusk.

Sunday is a shorter day, but there will still be carnival rides from 11 am-5 pm. The food and craft booths will also be open during that time period. The pony rides and petting zoo will be running from Noon-4 pm on Sunday, while the beer tent runs from Noon-5 pm. There will also be a Family Talent Show at 1:30 pm on Sunday.

If you don't want to drive into downtown Rockford and try to find a place to park, they will be offering a Shuttle Service. The shuttle will run from the Family Fare Supermarket and North Rockford Middle School to downtown Rockford in front of Chase Bank. The shuttle runs Friday from 5-11 pm and on Saturday from 10 am-11 pm with Pick-up and Drop-off every half hour.

For more information, check out the Rockford Michigan Chamber of Commerce Facebook page. Additional information can also be found on the Chamber of Commerce website. You can also see the complete Start of Summer Celebration brochure here.

 

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