Rolling Rock Town Fair 2.0 opens Saturday at fairgrounds

The stage is primed, the sound system is ready to rock, and now all the organizers of the Rolling Rock Town Fair 2.0 are waiting for are the 40,000 some people expected to descend upon the Westmoreland Fairgrounds.

The gates will open at 10 a.m. tomorrow for the sold-out Rolling Rock Town Fair at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds, Mt. Pleasant Township. Dan Hilbert, senior brand manager for Rolling Rock Beer, said over 30,000 tickets were sold in only 26 days, nearly half the time it took to sell out last year.

'This is the event of the year and people from as far as Alaska are coming to Westmoreland County to be a part of it,' said Hilbert during a press conference at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds Thursday morning.

Headlining this year's town fair are alternative rockers Stone Temple Pilots. Joining them are other alternative acts Staind, Oleander, Tantric, Incubus, Deftones and York, Pa. natives Live.

There will also be pie-eating contests, dunk tanks, roaming entertainers, arts and crafts and music by the Barbershop Quartet.

The Battle of the Bands competition will feature 'Squeeze Toy' and a Boston band 'Throw' beginning at 10:30 a.m. The band 'Clyde will perform from 11:30 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.

After last year's town fair, event organizers were left with the challenge of improving traffic conditions, keeping a better flow of people moving within the concert arena and the sale of the company's trademark beer.

Organizers added 700 grandstand seats for this year's event, but the bleacher seats are reserved for contest winners, Labatt USA executives, parent company of Latrobe Brewing Company, brewery employees, media and fans with handicaps.

Mike Stellone, production manager with Track Entertainment of New York City, the town fair's executive producer, said a turntable stage will be used this year, the same one used for the Woodstock festival held a few years ago. This will allow one band to set up while another is playing on stage. The turntable stage was just used by Ricky Martin in Chicago.

Stellone explained a better set up is planned for a mosh pit area as well, with a barricade system to alleviate chances of rowdy fans getting crammed or smashed against a fence.

Those over the age of 21 who want to purchase beer will be given a wristband. Beer sales will be in a confined area, big enough to fit about 11,000 people, and will only be permitted to drink within those perimeters, Hilbert added.

Last year's town fair triggered controversy among neighbors and local officials concerned with traffic, noise and the number of people. This year, Hilbert says they've received a much warmer welcome.

'A lot of people didn't know what to expect last year and were surprised how smoothly everything went - it's going to be even better this year,' he said.