Three-Day Music Festival To Benefit Autism Fight

River Rockhouse (www.river-rockhouse.com) is hosting River Rock Fest, a three-day music festival dedicated to help support autism awareness through the charity TACA (Talk About Curing Autism).

This downtown St. Charles festival runs Friday, Sept. 28, through Sunday, Sept. 30, inside River Rockhouse, formerly Chord on Blues, 106 S. Riverside Ave., and extending to the parking lot at 2nd Avenue and Walnut Street. The all-ages event will feature live music, food vendors, bags, a beer garden, raffles and more. Entry will be $5 before 9 p.m. and $10 after 9 p.m. Admission is free for seniors and children 12 and younger.

After 10 pm, the event is limited to attendees 21 and older. Profits from the fest will be donated directly to TACA. Parking for the event is free.

Rain or shine, the event will host live music from 5 p.m. Friday through 10:15 p.m. Sunday.

Friday and Saturday will feature cover and original bands Broken Vegas, Hi Infidelity, Bad Day, Infinity, 1 Sam 10, Bloody Mary, Triangle Green, Hyperflo, and Lincoln Don’t Lie.

Sunday is Family Fun Day and will feature a RC car race track, touch a truck, face painting, bounce houses and games in addition to live music from local youth bands MECCA and The Giving Moon, and popular Chicago area cover bands Modern Day Romeos and 7th Heaven. Ranging from country to pop and Motown to alternative, classic and punk rock, there will be something for every musical taste at this festival.

Talk About Curing Autism is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to educating, empowering and supporting families affected by autism. For families who have just received the autism diagnosis, TACA aims to speed up the cycle time from the autism diagnosis to effective treatments. TACA helps to strengthen the autism community by connecting families and the professionals who can help them, allowing them to share stories and information to help improve the quality of life for people with autism.

River Rockhouse owners Aaron and Sara Turner are parents of a child with autism and are passionate about the cause their festival will support. “It costs between $5 million and $7 million over a lifetime to raise a child with autism,” said Sara. “TACA helped us; I want to help back.” The Turners along with event promoter and bar manager Geoffrey Sands have made a goal to raise $20,000 for TACA.

More information about River Rock Fest and its live music schedule can be found at www.river-rockhouse.com.