Sep 12, 2022

Rockalooa returns to Hays this month

Posted Sep 12, 2022 8:00 PM
Rockalooa 2021
Rockalooa 2021

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

Back and in full force after two years of pandemic limitations, the annual Rockalooa Music Festival will return to Hays at noon Sept. 24 at Municipal Park in Hays.

This year marks the eighth year of the event and the third time as a full outdoor festival.

The free music festival will feature ten live bands throughout the day along with a variety of family-friendly activities, food trucks and a beer garden, according to organizer Matt Isley.

“We're going to have art booths, commercial vendors, and art vendors are going to have some live art, some live muralist, as well as a community art board,” Isley said. “Last year in 2021, we had a community art board where people could go up and paint on it or draw on it or whatever. And it was a big hit.”

The board has been on display at the Downtown visitors center since and will return to the festival to be reimagined for 2022.

This year’s lineup includes bands from Hays and the across the Midwest and various musical styles, including, The Fey, Vehicles, Starslinger, Stone the Thrones, Tree Kitty, Miles on End, Flyover, 80 Proof Alice and Mid-Engine.

Matt Isley performing in the band Dangerously Biased at Rockalooa 2021
Matt Isley performing in the band Dangerously Biased at Rockalooa 2021

“Each band will have 30 minutes,” Isley said. “The couple of co-headliners there at the end will have 45 minutes, something like that. So, the sets are pretty palatable.”

This year will mark the second for Lincoln, Neb.-based The Fey

“They played last year, but this year, they're headlining,” Isley said. “We had a lot of really good comments about them, and people liked them a lot.”

Wichita-based Vehicles is also a returning band and is currently promoting a recent album release.

Stone the Thrones previously played a fundraiser show for the main event last year.

“We get to put them on the main stage this year,” Isley said. “And we're excited to have them for that. They're kind of a heavier rock group, but there's some fusion in there.”

Starslinger, he said, is an active local alternative rock band.

Flyover is a newer Hays band and also played in the fundraiser show.

“They impressed me, and I'm excited for them to get on the Rockalooa stage this year,” Isley said.

Hays-based Tree Kitty and Miles on End have been a staple of Rockalooa events and will again perform.

Also from Hays, 80 Proof Alice, a husband and wife bluegrass duo and organizers of the Lovegrass Music festival, will perform.

Rockalooa 2021
Rockalooa 2021

“And then finally, Mid-Engine is a relatively new band here in Hays,” Isley said. “They played our fundraiser show also this past spring, and so we're gonna have them on the lineup as well.”

The 10th band is to be determined after a last-minute cancelation with a scheduled group.

“We're trying to pick up another cool act for that slot,” Isley said. “We have a few leads out, and we hope to be printing the finalized poster any day now.”

Isley said he and the bands are excited to see the festival back at full force after the pandemic canceled the 2020 event and forced a smaller event last year.

"Back in 2019, we had lots of art vendors, and we had some live art and all that,” he said. “And, of course, the pandemic happened. As we came out of that, we haven't really done a big vendor booth area. Since then, and hopefully this year, there's plenty of stuff for people to look at and see and purchase and check out.”

“That's kind of the point is one,” he continued. “It kind of uplifted some of the local artists to a place to show their stuff, but it also gives our attendees something to do between sets and during sets. And while they're listening to the music, they can check out some cool visual art as well.”

The event is made possible and free for the public thanks to the sponsors, but even with the event approaching, he said there is still time to get involved.

“We can definitely still get some sponsors on a number of promotional items, so we can help each other out,” Isley said. “But we have a whole bunch of sponsors this year. We have a handful of new ones that we are newly partnering with this year. So, we're really excited that we're growing in that way. It really helps put on the event and puts us a little more at ease.”

He said volunteers to work the event in various capacities are also welcome, along with additional food vendors that would like to set up during the festival.

Anyone interested in signing up can visit the Get Involved page of the Rockalooa.com website.

“There's also a big button for it on the homepage, get involved,” Isley said. “There, you can sign up to be an artist or a commercial vendor in our vendor row. You can sign up to be a volunteer, which we always need lots of help to get it going to make it all happen.”

Merchandise is also available on the website, he said, including tee-shirts that help support the event through the non-profit Midway Music Corp.

Rockalooa 2022
Rockalooa 2022

“We sell shirts every year that feature the poster design,” Isley said. “This year, the motif, the theme, is Blue Light Lady. And so that same poster design is going to be on the T-shirts.”

For more information about Rockalooa 2022, visit the website, rockhays.com, facebook, instagram or twitter.

Rockalooa 2021
Rockalooa 2021