Summer Motion 2011
By Carrie Stambaugh
Summer Motion in Ashland is the event for family-friendly festival fun and first-class musical entertainment at no cost.
The five-day festival, centered on Independence Day, will return to the banks of the Ohio River in 2011 during its 23rd annual celebration. This year’s theme, Homecoming on the River, will showcase the newly opened Veteran’s Riverfront Park with three days of concerts and events beginning July 4 and wrapping up July 6. Summer Motion begins in Ashland’s Central Park, just blocks from the riverfront, with a full roster of events and entertainment slated for July 2 and 3.
Summer Motion President Chuck Charles said Independence Day will be the biggest night of the festival this year. Not only will Summer Motion return to the Riverfront that night but Country Music Star and native son Billy Ray Cyrus will return to his hometown. Cyrus’s performance will be preceded by the largest display of fireworks in the Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia Tri-State area. The fireworks display is choreographed to patriotic music simulcast on local radio stations and includes thousands of individual fireworks fired from a barge on the river.
A patriotic program is planned for the evening but details are a closely guarded secret. Charles said the new riverfront park can hold 40,000 concert-goers and organizers are expecting a large crowd to celebrate Summer Motion’s Homecoming on the River.
The $11 million park upgrade included building restroom facilities and reclaiming land from under the Ohio River. The park now has a more gradual slope toward the river allowing more usable space for concerts. Federal funding secured by Sen. Mitch McConnell made the project possible and additional upgrades to downriver sections are planned.
In keeping with Summer Motion tradition, an all-star entertainment lineup of old favorites and up-and-coming stars will round out the musical talent at the concerts on the river. Sarah Darling, a new arrival on the country music scene who recently performed at the Grand Old Opry, will perform before Cyrus July 4 and will be followed by comedian Tom Foss before the fireworks show. Foss was part of Comics on Duty from 2005-2007 and can be heard on various national radio shows.
Rising country music act The JaneDear Girls will perform July 6. The JaneDear Girls were nominated for an American County Music Award for Top New Vocal Duo of the year. Additional musical acts will also perform that night.
Singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins, known for 80s blockbuster film theme songs, will headline July 5 both solo and as a part of the trio The Blue Sky Riders.
Summer Motion prides itself on booking top-notch emerging acts that quickly go on to become national sensations. Lady Antebellum and Little Big Town are among the most recent groups to perform at Summer Motion en route to hitting the big time, Charles said.
Summer Motion strives to provide wholesome entertainment for all ages – from small children to older adults. Summer Motion is the only surviving event from the now defunct Tri-State Fair and Regatta, which once included festivals in Ironton, Ashland, and Huntington. Summer Motion survived because of its commitment to creating alcohol-free festival atmosphere that offered high quality entertainment to families free of charge, according to Charles.
“It’s a family event. It’s a festival. It is a time to have fun and relax and let the community enjoy it,” said Charles.
The Summer Motion 10K kicks off the weekend events on Saturday morning although the festival also hosts the Golf For Kids Sake tournament and Bid For Kids Sake charity auction in late June with proceeds benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of The Tri-State, a national volunteer child-mentoring program. A food drive for River Cities Harvest is part of the July 4 activities.
The Arts and Crafts Festival, which includes dozens of vendors, will take place under a city of tents in the center of the park on Saturday and Sunday. The Summer Motion Car Show will be Saturday and the Motorcycle Show on Sunday.
A Summer Motion Cornhole Tournament will also take place Saturday as will another edition of the Ohio Championship Wrestling Show.
Other events in Central Park include a magic show, cooking contest, petting zoo, reptile and animal exhibit, inflatables, carnival games, medical screenings, and more. A food court with 15 vendors will also be located in Central Park and on the river.
There will be live music in Central Park both days. The Colgate Country Showdown will again take place at the Bandstand. New to Summer Motion this year is a Community Hero Challenge. It will pit the Ashland Fire Department and Ashland Police Departments against each other in a series of events that will include an obstacle course at the park.
Summer Motion has consistently been recognized as one of Kentucky’s Top Ten Summer Events and was recently named one of the Southeast’s best festivals. Sponsored by approximately 130 local businesses and organizations, the event is run by nearly 250 volunteers and organized by a dedicated committee of more than two dozen members. Over its five days, Summer Motion attracts tens of thousands of visitors from across the country and has a $5 million economic impact.
For more information and up-to-date event listings visit www.summermotion.com or follow it on Twitter and Facebook.
