Strong Kids

Fairport Music and Food Festival Celebrates Decade of Support

Aug. 15, 2014

fmffFor the past nine years, attendees of the much-anticipated Fairport Music and Food Festival have filled the village of Fairport in support of sick and injured kids at UR Medicine’s Golisano Children’s Hospital. This year will mark the event’s 10th anniversary, with one ticket granting access to two great nights of music, food and fun. The festival will kick off at 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22 and continue all day Saturday, Aug. 23 at Lift Bridge Lane. Last year’s FMFF raised $120,823.14, making the event’s grand total a generous $633,672. 

In celebration of hitting the 10-year mark, festival guests will have an additional evening Friday night to enjoy live music from three bands, including the Adam Ezra Group from Boston. Saturday will feature music on four separate stages, with more than 20 local bands performing in all. Artists include Big Leg Emma, Jumbo Shrimp, Prime Time Funk, The Buzzards, The Campbell Brothers, Cowboy Mouth and many more. New this year, the Bistro at Tow Path Café is hosting a ‘Silent Disco’ from 2 to 10 p.m. Children’s hospital supporters will also have the chance to experience the “Taste of Fairport,” offering samples of signature dishes from 25 area favorites, and a Beer Garden Patio at the Fairport Brewing Company, which will also present live music. Fun for the entire family, the event also includes kids’ activities from noon to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, with an obstacle course, magician, bounce house, airbrush tattoo artist and more! 

Tickets for the event are $10 in advance and $15 at the gate the day of the event. Kids ages 12 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased online until midnight on Thursday, Aug. 21, and at several Fairport merchant locations until midnight on Friday, Aug. 22. 

musicThe Fairport Music and Food Festival has always focused on the greater community and was created of, by, and for the people of Rochester. Fairport residents Andy McDermott and Rob Burch founded the festival in 2005 and it has grown ever since. In addition to funding various equipment for the children’s hospital, including two Giraffe Omnibed Incubators and an anesthesia machine, donations have already been put toward areas in the future building. Funds raised from last year supported a new private in-patient room, as well as furnishings and a large nursing workstation. This year’s proceeds will go toward the pediatric playroom in the new building as well.