A three-day music festival and mountain bike racing this weekend will bring a series of bands and activity to the fields and trails surrounding a vineyard tucked away on Alberts Hill Road. This is the second year that the Shuck N Jive music event will accompany the Grapes of Wrath mountain bike race, which started six years ago.

Coordinator Terrence Ford calls the event “a platform for pure enjoyment.”

From Friday, October 9, through Sunday, October 11, guests to McLaughlin Vineyard can enjoy live music, mountain biking, kids activities, craft and art vendors, wine tasting, and leaf peeping.

Also joining the festival is brewer Jon Watson of Southbury, who is collaborating with Sandy Hook Brewery to present a Berlinerwiess, using McLaughlin’s grapes.

“It’s the first beer of its kind brewed locally,” Mr Ford said.

Tickets are $95 in advance for a weekend pass, $110 at the gate; an RV pass is $50, available in advance only, and does not include the tickets.

Day passes are also available. Online sales have ended, but Friday passes are available at the gate for $20, while Saturday and Sunday passes are $60 each.

The weekend’s schedule, additional ticket information, festival camping information and other information is available online at .shuckandjivefest.com

Music

The music line-up “is spectacular,” Mr Ford said. Bands include Deep Banana Blackout, Kung Fu, The Breakfast, Naughty Professor, Sophistafunk Hayley Jane and the Primates, The Pleasure Drones featuring Ed Mann, Eric Kalb & Will Bernard, The Alpaca Gnomes, OTS (On The Spot) Trio, Beau Sasser’s Escape Plan, The Primate Fiasco, Stella Blues Band, lespecial, Bud & Budd — The Kind Buds, Legion of Jerry, Still Hand String Band (who will perform three sets), Graylight Campfire, Kazoo Crew Family Band, and others.

Friday’s bands are the Kazoo Crew Family Band beginning at 5:30 pm, Hayley Jane & The Primates at 7, Sophistafunk at 9, and Still Hand String Band at 11.

Saturdays bands begin playing at 11 am, with the last band beginning at 9 pm. The bands include On The Spot Trio, The Alpaca Gnomes, Still Hand String Band, Iespecial, The Breakfast, Beau Sasser’s Escape Plan, Naughty Professor, and Kung Fu. On Saturday, late night, The Kind Buds and Still Hand String Band will play.

Sunday’s bands start at 11 am, with the final band starting at 6:40. Bands are Graylight Campfire, Legion of Jerry, Stella Blues Band, Pleasure Drones, The Primate Fiasco, and Deep Banana Blackout.

Several of the bands and their members have been performing for Newtown before last year’s festival, using their music to support Newtown. Immediately after 12/14 “my friends have come,” said Mr Ford said. Members of both Kung Fu and Deep Banana Blackout “came here, right after.”

They were reluctant to play in town so soon, he said.

“They thought it was too early, but I said, ‘No, We need music,’ and they came. That’s important to me; they’ve been supportive thorugh everything. They were first to town.”

 

Mountain Bike Rides & Racing

The Grapes of Wrath Bike Race will begin at 1 pm Saturday, with the winner earning a $1,000 purse. The race, which takes place on vineyard trails, is 21 miles long on a technical pro course. Other categories include shorter distances, with winners receiving medals.

Online registration closed Monday, October 5. Day of registration may still be available at the venue.

Trails will be open for riding on Friday, and night rides are available.

Recreational rides are scheduled Saturday and Sunday with ride leaders.

Supporting the bike event are Fox Factory Inc (Ridefox.com), Biemme cycling, and Selle Royale, a bike accessory maker.

The bike race “historically, has always had a festival feel with music and a BBQ,” which had grown into the Shuck N Jive Mountain Bike & Music Festival, Mr Ford said.

“The property is a gem,” Mr Ford said. He wants to bring the vineyard to people’s attention both locally and regoinally.

He also partnered with friends including Dave Chard and Seth Talmann at BRYAC in Bridgeport “to enhance the vineyard’s capability” to host large events.

Shuck and Jive is a regional event of multiple categories, Mr Ford said. He hopes to “highten exposure to the property,” said Mr Ford, who expects the event could attract fans of both music and mountain biking from Massachusettes, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Event sponsors include BRAYAC, Sandy Hook Cyclery, Baked and Loaded, Telefunken.