Annual Joetown Rocks Festival Monday and Tuesday

Originally published June 6th, 2023

Updated June 30th, 2023 at 7:12 a.m.

(KNSI) — The big Joetown Rocks celebration and fundraiser for the Church of St. Joseph parish is Monday and Tuesday, July 3rd and 4th.

Tommy Vee of the Killer Vees, whose father is the late Bobby Vee, said, like many celebrities and musicians, his dad was asked so often to do fundraisers he was selective about which ones he did. Vee explains after the family’s tremendous 24 year run at Cathedral High School with Rock Around the Clock, they took a few years off. Then his father was approached by the St. Joseph Catholic Church to get something going there, and he jumped at the chance because “It was important to him and to our family to do things that benefited the Catholic community here and St. Cloud where we live. He lived in that [St. Joseph] community at that time, so he decided to put all of his eggs in that basket. And it’s been a great thing. I mean, we love doing it. It’s one of the funnest events that we do all year.”

The festival started in 2006 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the parish.

Steve Meyer with The Killer Choir, who is also performing with the Killer Vees and is an event organizer, says the money raised is used for several things, including the education program and capital improvements such as a new roof or HVAC system.

Meyer says Joetown Rocks is a family friendly event with “children’s games that go on the night of the 3rd, and people can go over there with their family. And so it’s a family festival that we want to keep going. And we want everybody to realize you can go there and have fun. You could make new friends and meet people there.” He adds it’s a community, and many hands are needed to make light work. “We have volunteers that are not just from our parish, we have some that come from Resurrection Lutheran Church, and Magnifi Credit Union.”

The gates open at 5:00 p.m. on July 3rd. There is bingo, games, food and refreshments, plus live music from the St. Joseph Catholic School kids, The Hunt, Anderson Daniels and The Killer Vees. Capping off the festival is the fireworks display at 10:15 p.m.

July 4th, there is the parade at 10:00, with bingo, food and refreshments starting at 11:00, plus live music from Stearns County Dirt, a quilt auction and a raffle drawing.

Vee describes it as “a big Midwest festival party. You see people of all ages enjoying some great music, food, drinks. You don’t see these types of things as much in Minnesota anymore, anywhere, for that matter. And you know, it’s free. You can’t beat free.”

Learn more here.

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