On the opening day of the much-anticipated Welcome to Rockville festival, a familiar foe returned to challenge the four-day event once again at the Daytona International Speedway. Recurring severe storms, akin to the ones that led to the cancellation of two headline acts the previous year, necessitated a brief evacuation of the festival grounds yesterday.
The festival was temporarily paused slightly after 5 p.m., in anticipation of the brewing storm heading towards the location. Fans were calmly urged via social media and the festival’s gigantic video screens to “find safe shelter without panic.” Options ranged from returning to their cars, relocating to the Turn 1 Speedway grandstand, or retreating to an infield campsite.
In less than an hour, the festival’s Facebook page posted an update that the storm was “beginning to dissipate, and we should be safe shortly.” The post continued, “Please stay sheltered until we give the all-clear. There will be ample time to reenter the venue before the music resumes.” The gates were reopened around 6:30 p.m.
Amid the sea of enthusiastic fans was a father-son duo, Adam Holcomb and his 15-year-old son Corbin, dressed in the theme of their favorite band – Slipknot. The elder Holcomb fondly recalls that “Slipknot was his [Corbin’s] first major concert, right here at Rockville, back in 2021.”
For the heavy metal community present on Thursday, the third consecutive year of Welcome to Rockville at Daytona Beach was cause for celebration. The jam-packed schedule of the four-day music fest boasts 95 bands, including big names like Slipknot, Avenged Sevenfold, Pantera, and Tool.
The festival’s promoters anticipate that this year’s Rockville will attract a whopping 170,000 attendees across the four days, a figure that would surpass the previous record of 161,000 from 2021, set during the festival’s maiden year at Daytona Beach.
Despite a 30% chance of rain and partly cloudy skies on Thursday, the day went off largely without a hitch. The likelihood of rain is expected to decrease through Saturday, but climb back to 40% on Sunday, as per the National Weather Service in Melbourne.
A handful of diehard metal fans who braved the rain-soaked 2022 Rockville edition were back this year, proving their unwavering loyalty. Walter Heppner III, one of these diehard fans, undeterred by the weather interruptions of last year and a recent break-up, was thrilled to see Slipknot perform live.
As always, music was the main attraction, with the first act of the festival delivered by Silly Goose, an Atlanta-based nu-metal group. Food and beverage vendors kept the crowd fuelled with a variety of options, from ice-cold Budweisers and Blue Razzberry Party Punch to pulled pork sandwiches and Cajun nachos.
It wasn’t just the fans singing praises for the event; Melanie Deans, owner of Trails Clothing based in Southern California, has been selling her custom T-shirts at Rockville since its inception in Jacksonville more than a decade ago. “It’s great exposure,” she said. “We’re getting new customers all the time and great feedback that inspires us to create new things. This is our genre; these are our people.”
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