Live and Local: Summer Music Fest 2026
So, most people who live around the Gettysburg area are aware that we have a rec park. If for no other reason, the summer hosts the farmers market, where you can get gluten free bread, local produce and meats and some very exotic and funky mushrooms from a guy next to where the music is. There are food trucks and plenty of dogs and coffee to be had in the back. Not a bad place to spend an hour on a Saturday morning.
But there’s also a very natty baseball field and soccer fields, a playground, and a really cool stage in the back for music and other performances.
And, tucked over next to the stage and the sitting area, there’s a skate park.
It’s called GASP (Gettysburg Area Skate Park). It’s very cool, but like us all, she’s got some miles on her. There are a group of noble people… a local restaurant manager, bartender, and a brew master, for example, who are working to not only save the skate park, but to completely refurbish it to make it safe, clean, and manageable with very little maintenance due to new tech in this area.
I’m not going to lie to you… it’s gonna cost a boatload of money.
Let’s be honest. Everything that wants to be done on the public scale costs a boatload of money if it’s done right. The reality is, you have to work your way up to raising such a boatload of money, regardless of how worthy the cause is. There are lawyers, and establishing a non profit, and applying for grants, etc etc.
It’s like eating an elephant, really. one bite at a time.
So one of those bites took place this past weekend, in the form of Summer Music Fest 2026. It had originally been planned for Memorial Day weekend, but that got rained out hard.
So, last Saturday, we saw a tremendous level of support from the local music scene. First of all, there was a banging line up of music through the day:
This all went till about 9pm. Drew Cooke alone, is worth coming out for on any day…and every time I’ve seen Heads or Tails, the term “holy shit” comes to mind. I understand they also helped out with the overall sound system, because everyone wants a skate park!
In addition, there was a lot of support from local musicians who just came out to support the cause. Ben Wenk and Dean Vaccher, of Guernsey Beat fame, as well as Mat Morris who, while only a few rungs below me on the old-man ladder, is actually, himself, a skater.
So, I sold t shirts and am honored to have been asked to join the board for the non-prof that is trying to eat this particular elephant. I don’t know what skills I might bring to bear, but I guess we will see.
The skate park is a cool thing, and we should have a ton more things like this around. We often bitch about kids these days, but I think we old people had it a lot better in a lot of ways as kids. Let’s get skate parks and ... I don’t know, mini golf places and more basketball courts, and karate classes for cheap, and you can list on and on.
Additional to all of this, too…my own opinion is this: whatever you think of a skate park, the fact that people are willing to put their time and resources together is – in itself – the good part.
The summer music fest was a great day…and it raised funds for a great cause. That’s because great people still give a shit about what’s past the end of their noses and, as far as I’m concerned, that alone is worth celebrating.
But none of it happens if you don’t participate. So I encourage you to get out to all the fests that happen, regardless of what the cause is that’s being supported (or if there even is one). I have nothing but respect for the people who put this Music fest together, and the artists and food truck people.
Go check out Gettysburg Area Skate Park on Facebook. Buy a t shirt. They’re cool as hell (thanks keith).
Speaking of T shirts, there are also cool ones on theflattedfifth.net. Just saying.
And Ploughman used to have this great cocktail, called the Yardbird. That was also cool. We should put together a board and a non profit to save the Yardbird.
One bite at a time, people!