Rockabillaque returns for their 10th year the weekend of November 17th, 18th, and 19th to the Park Circle neighborhood of North Charleston. Below is the story behind the festival, as written by the festival’s producer.
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By: Simon Cantlon
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The festival started off as an idea of how great it would be to see classic cars parked all along E Montague Ave on the historic main strip in the Park Circle neighborhood of North Charleston, SC. Taking the neighborhood back in time to its earlier days as a bustling neighborhood center in the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s. Bringing back the classic cars that lined the streets back then and celebrating mid century americana with a festival that included a classic car and vintage bike show, rockabilly and roots rock bands playing throughout the neighborhood, a pinup contest with ladies harkening back to the style and look of that time period and also celebrating the neighborhood itself and its modern day revitalization.
In 2013, Simon Cantlon, the festival’s producer had just finished co-producing the first year of a rockabilly festival in New Mexico called Rockabilly On The Route and with that success an idea was born. Talking with Scott Cloud, the owner of The Barbeque Joint at the time, the idea of bringing a similar festival to Park Circle was discussed and after a bunch of brainstorming Rockabillaque was developed and created! So Cantlon dove in and created Rockabillaque (rock-a-bill-a-que) which is the combined name of rockabilly music meets bbq (the name was Cloud’s idea).
For the first year, the show was one block long with a flatbed stage, forty classic cars, six bands and drew around 1200 people who came out to enjoy the day. That year even included a retro fashion show. We were blown away and considered it a big success and it was decided it would be an annual festival.
Now ten years later it has grown to be the biggest festival of its kind in the Carolinas with over 20k in attendees coming out annually for the action-packed weekend of fun. We now have over four outdoor stages, over twenty-five bands coming from all over the map including nationally and internationally, over 400 car and bikes in the Classic Car & Vintage Bike Show, over 70 vendors make up our market, the Pinup Contests features over 35 ladies competing annually for the title of Miss Rockabillaque plus there’s the Tattoo and Beard & Mustache Contests.
Through all of this Rockabillaque has remained independently produced and always free to attend. The festival is one of the last independently produced, free festivals in the lowcountry. Car and Bike owners come from as far away as Canada to show off their rides and bands travel from cities both nationally and internationally to play our stages. Now celebrating our 10th Anniversary it is truly amazing to look back at how much Rockabillaque has grown, with people of all ages coming in from all over the map to experience the action-packed weekend of fun every year.
Rockabillaque is produced by Simon Cantlon of Vive Le Rock Productions who also produces Park Circle Pride. After fifteen years of working in the entertainment industry in digital media and marketing, Cantlon quit his job and travelled the country for a year to figure out what he wanted to do next. During this time he spent a bunch of time on Route 66 working on a documentary on Route 66 and reawakening his love of midcentury americana culture. Finally deciding to make Charleston his new home, Cantlon dove in and began making connections around town and figured out what his next career move would be. Falling in love with Park Circle he made the area his home and also the main area of his new career direction working with local businesses in marketing and promotions and eventually developing and producing Rockabillaque.
Rockabillaque has also expanded to its sister event, Rockabillaque Florida, which is now in its 4th year and returns January 20th, 2024 to the Seminole Casino in Immokalee, Florida. We also pride ourselves with our charity work with every festival being a fundraiser for an amazing organization including in past years, This Is Noteworthy, Valiant Animal Rescue and Park Circle Cares. This year we are in support of men's health programs funded by Movember, including cancer, mental health and more. Cantlon’s background in the entertainment business included working on over forty-five television shows including American Idol, Weeds, So You Think You Can Dance, Californication and received an Emmy nomination for his work on the TV series, Dexter. He has also worked with many music artists including The Spice Girls, Carrie Underwood, Adam Lambert and sports figures including David Beckham. He has also worked for the estates of Elvis Presley Enterprises and Muhammod Ali. Find out more on Simon Cantlon and Vive Le Rock Productions here: Vive Le Rock Productions
Find out more about Rockabillaque including this year’s official poster and music lineup here www.rockabillaque.com
