Rock Hall Fall Fest
Zack Smith, our Pied Piper
The first FallFest was in 1998, one year after The Mainstay itself was conceived. It has been held every September since, including one week after Hurricane Isabel blew through in 2003.
Attendance has built each year to now over 6000 people. FallFest is second only to the Memorial Day Chestertown “Tea Party” as a tourism draw for Kent County. Over fifty artisans line Rock Hall’s one block long Main Street.
In 2006, twenty-four separate musical groups with jazz, blues, folk, bluegrass, gospel, classical, and Caribbean rhythms played on the street, on a stage in an adjacent field, in The Mainstay, and even in the aisles of the local supermarket.
Five hundred children visit Kid’s Kourt for face painting, games, crafts, pet displays, goat milking, pony rides… and more.
Nearby at the Rock Hall waterfront, watermen’s workboats, police and Coast Guard boats, log canoes, and classic yachts were on display. The Oyster Shucking Contest also takes place at the waterfront.
All of the events and entertainment at FallFest is free. FallFest has the sub-title of “A Celebration of Family and Community.”