Summer concert, car show set for Westmoreland Fairgrounds

Music fans, motorcycle lovers and car cruise enthusiasts are the target audience for a three-day extravaganza, June 27 to 29 at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds near Mutual.

Eleven bands are scheduled to perform at the Whiskey Throttle Fair, which also will feature tattoo artists and food trucks, said Michael Morelli, 31, of Hempfield, the co-founder of the event along with Justin Lilienthal of Latrobe.

The festival will run 10 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Morelli said. Musicians will perform from a stage at the site where the Westmoreland Fair amusement rides are set up during the fair.

The headliner for June 27 will be the Cowboy Kid Rock tribute band. Buckcherry will be featured June 28; and East Coast Turnaround will take the stage June 29, Morelli said.

There will be an indoor and outdoor car cruise and motorcycle cruise. Those vehicle owners who want to earn awards would pay an entry fee, Morelli said.

The outdoor concert at the fairgrounds might bring back memories of the Rolling Rock Town Fair, a one-day music festival sponsored by Rolling Rock beer, which had been brewed in Latrobe. The concerts were held in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004, attracting crowds estimated around 30,000 people, according to Tribune-Review archives.

Morelli said they opted to spread their Whiskey Throttle Fair over three days, rather than just one day, to spread ticket sales throughout the weekend and lessen traffic problems.

“We will cap the ticket sales,” said Morelli, who declined to comment on the number of tickets that would be sold.

Neither the Westmoreland Agricultural Fair and Recreation Fair Association nor Mt. Pleasant Township have any limits on ticket sales, said spokespersons for those organizations.

The event also will include a fundraiser for Sage’s Army, a Hempfield-based drug and alcohol prevention organization, in memory of Morelli’s brother, Jonathan, who died of a drug overdose in February 2013 at 18. Donations will be accepted for Sage’s Army from those motorcycle and car owners who want to participate in a burnout competition — spinning tires and creating smoke.

Tickets for the concert will go on sale online beginning Saturday at whiskeythrottlefair.com. A three-day pass will cost $99.99 and allow patrons to exit and re-enter. Tickets allowing fans to exit and re-enter the venue on Friday and Saturday will cost $49.99 and $24.99 on Sunday. Early-bird tickets for those who want to enter before 2 p.m. are $19.99, but they will not be able to leave and return without buying another ticket, Morelli said.

Admission for children 12 and younger is free.

Morelli said neither he nor Lilienthal, both of whom own businesses, have ever organized a concert such as the one they are undertaking.

“It’s definitely a gigantic risk. We believe too much in ourselves not to do it. It’s a legacy thing,” Morelli said.