WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — There will be three free Friday night concerts in Wilkes-Barre this summer when the Rockin' the River concert series returns in July.
Headliners include a Rolling Stones tribute, a Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac tribute, and local favorite the Badlees.
With the Susquehanna River peacefully flowing behind them on Tuesday, leaders in tourism, events, and community outreach in Luzerne County announced the return of the Rockin' the River free concert series in July.
"A big piece of making better health easier, which is our vision that Geisinger is just being together again after the couple of years that we've had. It's been quite a challenge. I always look forward to the Rockin' the River series because that was a chance to kind of feel normal again and be with our friends and family and community again," said Geisinger's Dan Landesberg.
This event began in 2019 and has gained momentum and popularity ever since.
"It is resiliency, you know? This is the fifth year now, and so it's no longer a new event. It's something that soldiered through the pandemic with the Rockin' the County series. Back in 2020, they were able to take the shows out on the road, on the trucks, to five different communities, but it sure is nice to all be back together in one place," said Alan Stout of Visit Luzerne County.
Will Beekman, general manager of the Mohegan Sun Arena, is in charge of booking the bands.
Organizers say there's an abundance of people who want to attend, and the same applies to those who want to perform.
"I think this started out the first year with me going around, trying to find bands I wanted to perform here. And then once the people came out to see it, once the bands came out to perform that. So last year, I had to reach out to them. I get emails; I get phone calls all the time from people wanting to perform. Hopefully, one day we get enough funding to do this for more than three nights because we have a lot of other bands that would love to play on the river," Beekman said.
Concerts will take place near Millennium Circle on the River Common in Wilkes-Barre on three Fridays in July starting on July 14.
Food trucks will open at 5 p.m., and the shows go from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Check out WNEP's YouTube channel.