The Rites of Spring Festival, also known as RoSfest, will take place May 2-4, 2014 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. RoSfest will present progressive rock icons Caravan, Beardfish, Collage, Clepsydra, Sound Of Contact and additional acts.
RoSfestwill celebrate its 11th year in 2014, and will feature UK progressive rock icons Caravan, who have not performed in the US in many years, along with 9 other outstanding bands this year. RoSfest has always been at the vanguard of bringing new and upcoming progressive rock bands to an American audience, while also bringing in bands that were at their peak during the peak of progressive rock in the 1970s. This year’s lineup features 10 bands over three days, with Friday night’s show featuring Clepsydra (Switzerland) and Caravan (UK). Saturday’s show features Elephants of Scotland (US), Sound of Contact (UK), Thank You Scientist (US), and Beardfish (Sweden). Sunday’s lineup features Fright Pig (US), Red Sand (Canada), Subsignal (Germany), and Collage (Poland). All three days feature a strong lineup with a mix of different sounds and styles within progressive rock.
“It’s really an honor to be featuring a classic band like Caravan at RoSfest,” says George Roldan, founder of RoSfest. “They are so well known in the genre, and they have been very instrumental in developing the Canterbury sound that has become familiar to prog fans. We really are thrilled to host Caravan’s first show on American soil in years. Our Sunday night headliner, Collage, is one of the most famous bands in Polish progressive rock, and indeed Polish music in general. They’ve just reunited, and this will be their biggest show in years, so we are honored that they agreed to perform at RoSfest for this special occasion. In addition to the classic bands, we also continue to bring in new rising stars of progressive rock, such as Sound of Contact, which is a project from Simon Collins, Phil Collins’ son, and they bring a refreshing modern sound to the genre. This whole lineup is incredible, and we’re looking forward to bringing all of these wonderful bands to the stage!”
George Roldan adds, “As many will see from the bands we have signed for 2014, RoSfest is in development. There’s a steadily increasing number of fine new bands that comes forth that we feel deserve the chance to play at a festival such as ours. Some established with a small following already, others are fresh entities just starting out. We feel we have an obligation to the best of those new artists to make them somewhat better known, especially when conditions for recording artists in general and new artists in particular are as challenging as they are. All of them represent the finest quality in music of course, we do owe our audience a high quality festival after all. They are just not that well known yet. We do take care to sign better known bands too.
Newly reunited Clepsydra and Collage for instance, Beardfish as one of the top names among the new generation of progressive rock bands, and in Caravan we managed to sign one of the few remaining giants from the golden age. But all in all RoSfest 2014 has a somewhat higher percentage of lesser known bands than before. We hope our audience understand and support this slight alteration in approach.”
RoSfest once again will be held at the Majestic Theater in Gettysburg. Eighty years ago, the doors of the Majestic Theater opened for the first time, welcoming audiences to the largest vaudeville and silent movie theater in south-central Pennsylvania. Built by Henry Scharf as an annex to the historic Gettysburg Hotel, the theater seated 1,200 patrons and proudly served as the cultural crossroads of commerce, college, and community.
RoSfest Schedule:
Friday May 2nd
Clepsydra – 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Caravan – 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Saturday May 3rd
Elephants of Scotland – 11:00 am to 12:30 pm
Sound of Contact – 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm
Thank you Scientist – 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm
Beardfish – 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm
Sunday May 4th
Fright Pig – 11:00 am to 12:30 pm
Red Sand – 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm
Subsignal – 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm
Collage – 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm
Majestic Theater
25 Carlisle Street
Gettysburg, PA 17325
Also, doors will be opened at 5:00 pm on Friday, 10:00 am Saturday-Sunday; doors will be closed every night at 11:30 pm.
Gold Tickets for RoSfest 2014 are on sale. The order link can be found on the RoSfest homepage. Direct link.
Regular seat tickets may only be purchased on the Majestic Theater website or through the box office by calling (717) 337-8200, or in person at 25 Carlisle Street during box office hours (Sunday: 3:00-7:30 pm, Monday-Saturday: 12:00 noon-7:30 pm).
Single day passes go on sale Friday March 14th at the Majestic Theater box office for all three days and online. Majestic Theater website