Coming to Concord’s Main Street this weekend: an NBA basketball court.
Right there in the middle of the road, out in front of the State House, a bona fide professional basketball court is going to be unloaded in pieces from a truck and built downtown.
It’s just one of the main stages of Rock On Fest, which will move from its previous location in White Park to bring music and basketball to Main Street on Friday and Saturday.
The Rock On Foundation, which puts on the event, was founded by a couple of former pro basketball players from Concord, Luke and Matt Bonner. While the main focus of the festival in previous years has been music, Luke Bonner said he can imagine the hoops tournament growing into a signature sporting event for Concord – like a summertime Black Ice Pond Hockey Championship.
“I think it’s going to be a really cool setup, and hopefully people will see it this year and there’ll be a lot of excitement,” Luke Bonner said. “Ideally, that becomes a bigger piece of the festival going forward.”
This year’s schedule for Saturday will bring five musical acts to a stage set up in front of the State House, capped off with performances by Holly Miranda and Laura Stevenson.
There’ll also be a pancake breakfast cooked by Intown Concord in the morning, a sidewalk sale throughout downtown, group yoga and the usual farmers market on Capitol Street and arts market in Bicentennial Square.
While musical performances will dominate the tail end of the festival late in the day on Saturday – and a screening of Space Jam on the State House lawn will cap off the day at 8 p.m. Friday – the early part of both days will kick off with a variety of three-on-three basketball tournaments.
Boys and girls ages 11 to 14 will face off Friday at noon, and adults will follow at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Luke Bonner said there’s a growing focus around the world on three-on-three basketball, and a tournament in an “idyllic New England downtown setting” like that of Concord could be a big draw as it gets more attention.
The games are played on a half-court with a 12-second shot clock – and the first team to reach 21 points or the leader after 10 minutes wins.
It’s an easygoing format that makes it simpler to field a team, but that doesn’t mean it’s lax on competition – three-on-three will be played in the Olympics for the first time in 2020.
“It’s a good opportunity to introduce it to Concord, and – Who knows? – maybe make it a Northeast destination for anyone who wants to play three-on-three hoops,” Bonner said.
In addition to the three-on-three games, which will also feature a matchup between the Concord police and fire departments Friday evening, there will be some full-court action, too, between local high schoolers.
Concord High will take on Merrimack Valley High School in a unified game at 7 p.m. Friday, and the Midsummer Classic – a single-elimination tournament between summer league teams from a handful of local schools – will tip off at 1 p.m. Saturday.
All this, right there on Main Street on an official court that was donated by the NBA, Bonner said.
“They’re actually shipping it from Minnesota, and they’re sending a team up to help install it,” he said.
Where, exactly? That’ll be determined once the team gets here, he said. The street will be closed between Centre and School streets, and he’d prefer to locate it on the southern side between Capitol and School streets, he said.
But the cobblestones in the center of the road might cause a problem for the court, he said, so it may have to be shifted north between Park and Centre streets. “They want to see it in person,” he said.
With all the action, it might be easy to forget that the Rock On Foundation’s mission is much broader than this festival. The nonprofit uses the money it raises to boost athletic and artistic opportunities throughout New Hampshire.
Bonner said recent awards have supported an after-school arts program in Rochester, a summer swim program in the North Country and a community music school in Nashua. Money also went toward adaptive wheelchairs to help people with disabilities climb some of New Hampshire’s most rugged mountains.
More information about Rock On Fest can be found at: facebook.com/events/289891558102115/
Rock On Fest Schedule
Friday
Noon: boys 3-on-3 tournament
3 p.m.: girls 3-on-3 tournament
6:30 p.m.: Police vs. fire 3-on-3 game
7 p.m.: Concord vs. Merrimack Valley high school unified basketball game
8 p.m.: Outdoor movie Space Jam on the State House lawn
Saturday
10 a.m.: Adult 3-on-3 tournament
1 p.m.: Midsummer Classic high school tournament
1:30 p.m.: State House lawn concerts begin with Mr. Aaron kids jam
2:30 p.m.: Group yoga
3:30 p.m.: Tough Guy
4:45 p.m.: Photocomfort
6 p.m: Holly Miranda
7:30 p.m.: Laura Stevenson
(Nick Reid can be reached at 369-3325, nreid@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @NickBReid.)