Free One-Day Festival is the Largest of its Kind in Florida Featuring

 Multiple Concerts, Car and Bike Show, Contests including Pin-Up,

Friday Kick-Off Party and Sunday Atomic Splash Pool Party

IMMOKALEE, Fla. (Sept. 27, 2023) – Florida Weekly presents Rockabillaque Florida at Seminole Casino Hotel with the main event on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024 beginning at 11 a.m. This festival is free and open to all ages.

Rockabillaque Florida is the biggest festival of its kind in Florida, celebrating mid-century and 1950s Americana. This action-packed day and night features musical acts from all over the country, a classic car and vintage bike show, contests including pin-up, tattoo, and beard and moustache, plus a vendors’ market, food trucks and more.

“The festival is returning for our fourth year at Seminole Casino Hotel with our biggest year yet! We are bringing in more major music acts from around the world than ever before. This festival has grown so much in the last few years, and we are excited to celebrate with everyone again. The weekend’s schedule will include over 20 music acts, our popular pinup contest plus other competitions, the epic classic car and vintage bike show with more than 400 vehicles, atomic splash pool party, vendor market, food trucks, dancing, and so much more,” said Festival Producer Simon Cantlon of Vive Le Rock Productions. “Plus, it’s free to attend day and night. You just can’t beat the good times we are bringing!”

The entertainment lineup features free performances from headliners JD McPherson (California), Hillbilly Moon Explosion (Switzerland), plus even more national and international acts including Peter & The Wolves (Canada), The Rock-A-Sonics (Maryland), and Messer Chups (Russia). In addition, Rockabillaque Florida will feature an invasion of bands from California including Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys, Deke Dickerson & The Whippersnappers, Reckless Ones, Abby Girl and The Real Deal, The McCharmlys, The Centuries. Regional music acts The Patina Turners, The Intoxicators!, Jared Petteys & The Headliners, and Skinny McGee and the Handshakes also will perform with more to be announced soon.

Classic cars and vintage bikes will be on display from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Multiple contests will be held throughout the day including a Beard and Mustache competition, the legendary Pin-Up contest, and a Tattoo contest. This year also features the return of the Friday night kick-off party at the Zig Zag Lounge featuring live music and the Atomic Splash Pool Party (ticketed) on Sunday with a vintage swimsuit competition, live music and more. The Car and Bike Show is hosted by Born To Ride Media, Viking Customs, and 5 Points Motor Club.

All concerts are free. Attendees are welcome to bring chairs and all ages are welcome. A large selection of food trucks and merchants will be at the event. Coolers, backpacks and pets will not be permitted during this event. For more information, visit FLROCKS.COM.

SCHEDULE

Friday, Jan. 19: Zig Zag Lounge

Kick-Off Party: 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., featuring live music from regional and national music acts.

Saturday, Jan. 20: Main Festival

Car and Bike Show: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Vendor Market: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Outdoor Stage: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., live music and contests

Zig Zag Lounge: 12 p.m. to 1 a.m., live music

Sunday, Jan. 21: Seminole Casino Pool

Atomic Splash Pool Party: 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., ticketed event featuring live music, contests and more.

About JD McPherson

Hailing from Broken Arrow, Okla., JD McPherson has recorded four studio albums and toured extensively worldwide, including being featured at the festivals Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, and Newport Folk Festival, among many others. Rolling Stone has described his music as “Timeless, forward-thinking rock & roll.” Throughout his career he has received widespread critical acclaim with NPR praising, “McPherson’s mastery of rock and soul fundamentals is beyond question, but his voice moves in wild ways on these songs, and the band exudes a new kind of risky energy.” McPherson has built a worldwide fanbase and his songs have become instant classics. “JD McPherson is a vivid reinterpreter of the strutting rock ’n’ roll of the 1950s.” –The New York Times

About Hillbilly Moon Explosion

Hillbilly Moon Explosion originated in 1998 as part of the Zurich rockabilly scene. This Swiss rockabilly combo exists in a middle ground between the traditionalism of many rockabilly revival bands and the rougher, spookier sound of psychobilly The group was founded by the native English and Swiss citizen Oliver Baroni (vocals, bass, guitar) and Italian-Swiss singer Emanuela Hutter. The band has grown their fanbase to international success with a captivating live show, iconic original songs and unique interpretations of classic songs including “Jackson” and “How Soon Is Now?” As Swiss rockabilly royalty, the band bring their raucous and rowdy ways to stages all over the world!

About Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys

Since forming in 1988 in Southern California, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys have become one of the world’s most beloved Americana/Roots acts, drawing from the deep musical waters that flow just beneath the surface of Rock & Roll’s fertile soil. A childhood passion for Country, Doo-Wop, and Rhythm & Blues 45s led Sandy (born Robert Williams) to pursue a singing career as a teenager, beginning a life in music that continues decades later. And as his personal record collection continues to grow (75,000 and counting), so does the depth of the musical influences that stream through his songwriting and singing style. After nearly 35 years on the road, and more than two dozen releases to their credit, they remain key figures on the ever-changing Americana circuit, both on record and in live appearances. 

About Messer Chups

Hailing from Saint Petersburg, Russia, Messer Chups’ mostly instrumental sound is hard to categorize, but it’s safe to say it’s embraced by fans of rockabilly, horror punk, vintage surf records, Italian slasher films, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Pulp Fiction, lounge music, the theremin, The Cramps, and the theme song from The Munsters. Their catchy music combines surf, vintage Russian melodies, rare film samples from the 1950s and 1960s, scratchy historical recordings, and lounge loops. Live, they explode with garage-punk intensity, all played against a video-collage backdrop of mid-century trashy cult and horror movie clips featuring Russ Meyer and Ed Wood, and superstars like Vampira and Bela Lugosi in a zombie mash-up.

About Deke Dickerson

Deke Dickerson has devoted his long career to keeping America’s roots music alive while interjecting new creativity into genres of music that flourished in decades previous. Dickerson has been carrying the torch since he was 13, playing in his first rockabilly band. He moved to Los Angeles at the age of 22 and proceeded to found his primary band, Deke Dickerson and the Ecco-Fonics, his newest group, Deke Dickerson and the Whippersnappers, as well as several side projects. Dickerson has provided rootsy music for a slew of television shows and movie projects, including scoring the music for a Paramount Pictures film starring Johnny Knoxville, “Action Point.” Dickerson has his own signature guitar, manufactured by the Hallmark Guitar Company of Maryland. Dickerson also wrote the official biography of guitar legend Merle Travis. He also writes for several guitar magazines and had two books published by Voyageur Press. Dickerson is well known as a historian of roots music and regularly contributes liner notes to reissue projects for such labels as Capitol, RCA, Bear Family, and Sundazed. In 2019 Dickerson won the Ameripolitan Music Award for Musician of the Year! Two of Dickerson’s songs are featured in the newest Disneyland ride, Cars Land, at Disney’s California Adventure theme park.

About Seminole Casino Hotel Immokalee

Seminole Casino Hotel Immokalee is Southwest Florida’s premier gaming and entertainment destination. Located at 506 South 1^st Street in Immokalee, Seminole Casino Hotel Immokalee is easily accessible to all of Southwest Florida. The 51,000-square-foot casino offers 1,400 slots and 41 live table games. Dining options include the award-winning 1^st Street Deli, Asian fusion restaurant Lucky Mi Noodle House, and the EE-TO-LEET-KE (“The Camp”) Grill. Seminole Casino Hotel’s nightlife is highlighted by the Zig Zag lounge, home of the Zig Zag Girlz, “where the party never ends” featuring nightly live entertainment and no last call. Additional entertainment and events are held at the Seminole Center, an indoor/outdoor special event center featuring state-of-the-art sound and lighting system. The Seminole Casino Hotel is the first upscale hotel to open in or near Immokalee and offers suites and deluxe guestrooms with modern décor and upscale features. Seminole Casino Hotel participates in the Seminole Players Club Wild Card Rewards Program whereby players earn and redeem comp dollars at all Seminole Casinos in Florida. For more information, call (800) 218-0007 or visit FLROCKS.com.

About Festival Producer, Vive Le Rock Productions

Rockabillaque Florida is produced by Simon Cantlon of Vive Le Rock Productions, in partnership with the Seminole Casino. The event is a unique take on the original Rockabillaque festival, now in its 10th year in Charleston, South Carolina, where it has grown to be the biggest event of its kind in the Carolinas.

After more than 20 years of working in the entertainment industry including television, radio and record labels, primarily in digital media and marketing for shows such as American Idol, recording artists such as Carrie Underwood and Elvis Presley Enterprises, and networks including Showtime and Fox plus an Emmy Nomination for his work on the TV Show “Dexter,” Cantlon envisioned a new career route and in 2010 established Vive Le Rock Productions. Since then, Cantlon has created and produced numerous festivals and collaborated with a variety of business entities in branding, multi-media, marketing and more. Cantlon has honed his years of experience to develop and produce Rockabillaque Florida attracting people from all over the map to celebrate all things mid-century.