Kent Rocks Guitar Fest

10/14/2026

🎸🎶 SPONSORS WANTED FOR 2027! 🎶🎸

The Crooked River Arts Council is looking for sponsors to help make another incredible year of live music in Downtown Kent possible!

We’re gearing up for FOUR fantastic festivals in 2027:

🎸 Kent Beatlefest
🪕 Kent American Roots Music Festival
🎷 Kent Blues Fest
⚡ Kent Rocks Guitar Fest

These events bring live music, visitors, and energy to our downtown businesses and community throughout the year!

Want to put your business in the spotlight while supporting local arts and live music? We’d love to partner with you!

📩 Contact us to learn more about sponsorship opportunities for our 2027 festival season!

[email protected]

10/14/2026

🎸🎶 SPONSORS WANTED FOR 2027! 🎶🎸

The Crooked River Arts Council is looking for sponsors to help make another incredible year of live music in Downtown Kent possible!

We’re gearing up for FOUR fantastic festivals in 2027:

🎸 Kent Beatlefest
🪕 Kent American Roots Music Festival
🎷 Kent Blues Fest
⚡ Kent Rocks Guitar Fest

These events bring live music, visitors, and energy to our downtown businesses and community throughout the year!

Want to put your business in the spotlight while supporting local arts and live music? We’d love to partner with you!

📩 Contact us to learn more about sponsorship opportunities for our 2027 festival season!

09/11/2026

Cleveland’s Rock Bar UNPLUGGED! Tonight during Kent Rocks Guitar Fest 2026 presented by Wayside Furniture & Mattress at North Water Brewing from 7:30 to 10:00PM!

Cleveland’s Rock Bar is a rock-n-roll cover band that takes an audience on a musical journey. There are certain songs in the history of rock that just work on any occasion and on any day. This band set out to create a setlist that could be anything to anyone that enjoys the most enduring rock music the world has ever produced. While the band dials up selections from classics like the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, it also will touch on the early 80s MTV era with selections by the likes of INXS and Duran Duran. Then, after plowing through the early 90s with tunes by Pearl Jam or Foo Fighters, the band can highlight the 2000s by weaving through The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand. This band is a living, breathing radio dial, and one in which the only common ground is to get people moving and get their heads bobbing. A setlist that will be forever evolving…a band that is a must-see on the Cleveland scene.

09/11/2026

The Legendary 15 60 75 Numbers Band is performing at Venice Cafe TONIGHT as part of Kent Rocks Guitar Fest 2026 presented by Wayside Furniture & Mattress! 6PM to 9PM!

15-60-75 (The Numbers Band) has been praised by almost every national music publication and several international publications since the beginning of their 30 years of live performances and recordings. Many fans are under the impression that the band remains obscure by choice. In fact, they have never been offered a contract from any recording company in the industry, ever.
The music “cannot be categorized”, “it is undefinable”, “too original”. The music industry is not about music anymore. It is about selling products the public can relate to. After all, it is a business. Even “alternative” music has become a label. The founder of the band, Robert Kidney, explains, “The music industry, the media, and the tellsusourvision (TV) are defining for the American public what is good music by only playing and supporting what is profitable. We are taught to disregard everything that is not familiar. We (The Numbers Band) give the people our best. Our effort goes into being creative, unique and original. We define our own sound. There are no rules because we don’t play the game. We are not in it for the game, we’re in it for the music.”

09/11/2026

It's going to be a beautiful night! Come join us from 6-8pm at the Dan Smith Park in Downtown Kent for some great tunes!

09/11/2026

09/11/2026

09/11/2026

ALL of Tonights's live music downtown is FREE for the community thanks to the generous support of our sponsors! We hope you enjoy Kent Rocks Guitar Fest 2026 presented by Wayside Furniture & Mattress!!!

01/09/2026

Beatlefest Lineup dropping soon!!! Save the date!

12/18/2025

Kent’s Crooked River Arts Council Gives Back with Annual Donation

The Crooked River Arts Council (CRAC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to
supporting music, arts and culture, community support services and education. The Kent,
Ohio-based organization is best known for the four popular music festivals it presents
annually - Kent BeatleFest, Kent American Roots Music Festival, Kent Blues Fest, and Kent
Rocks Guitar Fest.

Every year, the Council makes a significant year-end donation to local non-profit groups. In
2025, CRAC donated $12,000 to: University Hospitals Portage, American Heart Association, Kent Social Services, Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Portage County, Main Street Kent, Ben Curtis Family Foundation, Kent Roosevelt Music Boosters, Kent Police Department, Susan K. Graves Fund, Movember, and the Kent Fire Department.
“We are thrilled and humbled by the response to our festivals,” said Mike Beder, one of the
founders of the Crooked River Arts Council. “Kent is a wonderful city and we love to see
families and friends getting together, enjoying music, food, laughs, and beverages.”
The donations make an impact in the community. “Thank you very much for your contribution
to the Kent Music Boosters’ Patron Program,” said John Roebke Ph.D of the Kent Roosevelt
Music department, one of the recipients of donation funds. “The Crooked River Arts Council
understands the important part that music plays in every child's educational experience. Their
generous contribution makes a huge difference for students in our music program.”

“Wayside Furniture’s sponsorship is critical to our ability to produce the music festivals and to
donate to the community,” said Marty Student, Director of Development for the Crooked River
Arts Council. “”But we are fortunate to have the support of a number from other generous
sponsors, many of which have been with us for years, including Kent Central Gateway
(PARTA), Holiday Inn Express Kent, Bonsky Heating & Cooling and Escott & Company
Certified Public Accountants.”

Here are the dates for the Kent music festivals presented by Wayside Furniture in 2026:
· Friday February 20th - BeatleFest
· Friday May 1st - Kent American Roots Music Festival
· Saturday July 18th - Kent Blues Fest
· Friday September 11th - Kent Rocks Guitar Fest