Rock’n’roll festival promises to be a classic

Raglan’s set to rev up and rock around the clock in a weekend of nostalgia and entertainment when the town hosts its fourth annual Classic Car & Rock’n’Roll Festival in February.
Organisers are taking the festival up a gear or two this time around with the likes of a Saturday-night Big Hop and a Miss Raglan and Mr Muscle contest for aspiring Olivia Newton-Johns and John Travoltas among the feature attractions along with the usual big lineup of classic cars downtown on the Sunday.
A town hall appearance by the Funky Monkeys, who’ll perform their award-winning road safety-themed show and sign autographs, has also been arranged as organisers look to broaden the festival’s appeal and pull in even greater crowds than usual.
Event co-ordinator Linda Cole says there’ll be no drive-in movie this time around but that will be more than compensated for by the Big Hop at the Raglan Club, where the rock’n’roll band the Famous Fish will be the star turn.
And she says while there’ll be no bikinis or speedos there’ll hopefully be more than the odd The Fonz look-alike at the Miss Raglan and Mr Muscle competitions, each of which will be broken down into three age categories — under 12, 13-17 and 18 and over.
Along with the classic cars lining Bow Street there’ll be everything from street bands and a bouncy castle to face-painting, stilt walkers and balloon sculpture. All up there’ll also be 10 individual entertainers from the Free Lunch Street Theatre Company.
The festival’s set down for the weekend of February 12/13, which steers clear of any clashes with Waitangi Weekend events. Proceeds will go as usual to Raglan Plunket and Raglan Surf Life Saving Club.
– The Raglan Cultural& Events Trust is on the lookout for sponsorship for the festival. Anyone interested in being a sponsor for $300 should contact Linda Cole on 825 7028 or email either rageventstrust@vodafone.co.nz or ragclassiccars@ihug.co.nz