Fairport Celebrates Summer in Support of Golisano Children's Hospital
People of all ages will fill the Village of Fairport, from noon to dark, Aug. 24, to celebrate the end of summer while enjoying live music and good food for a great cause. The canal-side Fairport Music and Food Festival will feature music from more than 20 bands, a “Taste of Fairport” with a variety of food from area restaurants and food trucks, children’s activities, and much more! All proceeds from the event benefit Golisano Children’s Hospital at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), with a total of more than $500,000 raised in the event’s history.
Tickets are $10 in advance and can be purchased at multiple Fairport locations. They will also be available for $15 at the event gate. Kids 12 and under are free.
Proud Fairport residents, and long-term supporters of the children’s hospital, Andy McDermott and Rob Burch created the Fairport Music and Food Festival in 2005, raising $13,700 in their first year. The event has broken its previous record each year, continuously climbing to its generous $1-million goal. “We really don’t focus on the money,” McDermott said. “We just want to put on a quality event.”
The quality of the event has played an instrumental role in its success and what it has done for patients at Golisano Children’s Hospital. In the past, festival donations have funded a pediatric anesthesia machine, flat-screen televisions for units 4-1600 and 4-3600, used to enhance the Get Well Network, two Giraffe Omnibed Incubators, and the playroom in the B&L Wholesale Outpatient Pediatric Treatment Center. Proceeds from this year will help support a private in-patient room, as well as a large nursing workstation in the new Golisano Children’s Hospital building. Burch and McDermott have made a commitment to fund the pediatric playroom in the new building as well.
This year’s Fairport Food and Music Festival will showcase 22 bands across three stages. Musical acts include Commander Cody, Chris Duarte, Jumbo Shrimp, the Campbell Brothers, and many more, for a total of 10 hours of live entertainment.
“We pride ourselves on the quality of the music,” Burch said. McDermott added. “We want the selection to be as eclectic as possible, with all different genres.”
Kids’ entertainment includes an arts and crafts table, rock wall climbing, bounce house, and appearances by the Magic Guy and Gadgets the Clown. Representatives from Kohl’s Pedal Patrol and the Rochester chapter of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids will also be handing out bike safety information and have a carnival-style spin-the-wheel game, with a prize give-away, at the Golisano Children’s Hospital booth.
“The Fairport Music and Food Festival is one of the largest community events that supports Golisano Children’s Hospital, and it’s also one of the most well-run, enjoyable events of the summer,” said Michael Fahy, associate director of community affairs at Golisano Children’s Hospital. “If you ask anyone who has been to the festival, they’ll tell you they never want to miss it, and that’s a testament to the work that Andy McDermott, Rob Burch, and their committee do, not only for the festival, but for the community as well.”