Festival promotors Will Ducas and Aaron Reynolds. (photo by Nicole Terpening)
The Elks Lodge in Saugerties will host the inaugural Fighting Heroin Festival on Saturday, Aug. 5 from noon to 8 p.m. The intention of festival organizers is to bring awareness to the growing heroin and opiate epidemic in the Hudson Valley. Funds raised will go toward burial costs for Normand Ducas. The event will include food, raffles and bake sales along with vendors. The primary focus will be on addiction and recovery. Live music will be provided by 17 different bands. General admission costs $15, deluxe admission costs $30.
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I’ve been seeing promotions for the “Hope Rocks” Festival in Saugerties’ Cantine Field Complex on Aug. 19 and 20. From what I can tell, this festival also deals with addiction and suicide. How come these two events aren’t joining together to make a more significant impact? Why do they seem to be competing with each other? What’s wrong with this picture?
There is no competition, the more days covered by the topic the better. This was planned personally by the brother and friends of a young man that overdosed, it was originally a smaller event and was to raise money for funeral cost. I’m sorry that you see only negative in such a positive event! All are welcomed to join the fight against heroin!
One is benefiting a lost loved one and his funeral expenses.
Bart, as someone close to the Hope Rocks Festival and someone who is close to the promoters and the person whose death is being memorialized in the August 5 event, this just highlights the magnitude of this epidemic. The Hope Rocks Festival is also a completely grassroots endeavor which happened to begin its planning nearly 12 months ago. Normand Ducas passed away just 2 months ago. Certainly, the friends and family of Normand are entitled to take whatever steps they think are appropriate to come to grips with this tragedy. Yes, it is a tragedy of unspeakable proportion and too many families are testimony to similar outcomes.
If there is an assumption of dueling interests or a misappropriation of suitable response, it is my opinion and that of the Hope Rocks Festival team, this represents the broad reaches of this problem in our society. One size does not fit all.
As a matter of fact, there are members of the Hope Rocks team who are volunteering time, talent, money and equipment to help make this Heroin Festival a success. I applaud these young men, yet I am deeply saddened by the increasing necessity to hold similar fund-raising functions. It defies what hope represents.
I guess like any picture, it depends upon where you stand to look at it. #hoperocks
Think all issues should be combined into one event to possibly have a greater impact on these very real issues plaguing our young people today.