Rocking it out once again on Logan Martin
Story by Paul South
Submitted Photos
Few things joyously say an unforgettable day at the park louder than tricked-out trucks, cool cars, hot live music, food and family fun.
And nothing evokes the spirit of the community’s people than a heart for helping others.
All of these wonderful things will come together from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday Sept. 20 at the Lakeside Live Musicfest at Pell City’s Lakeside Park. Proceeds from the event will go to help The St. Clair Children’s Advocacy Center’s Children’s Place, other local charities and the Pell City Police and Fire Departments and City Parks.
The free festival, now in its fifth year, will still call Lakeside Park home, but will move within the park to ease traffic and parking challenges of past years. Last year, some 6,000 cars came to the festival grounds.
The driving force behind Lakeside Live is Pell City’s Five 16 Foundation, a faith-based organization that shines its light “through fundraising, service and good works in the community. The 501c3 nonprofit gets its name from Matthew 5:16 in the New Testament: “In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Lakeside Live Director Casey Cambron is founder of the Five 16 organization, which has designated St. Clair Children’s Advocacy Center as this year’s major beneficiary of the event.
The center works on behalf of children and families affected by the tragedy of child abuse. It also works to foster interagency cooperation in the legal system and train volunteers. It also works to educate and build awareness in the community.
“This is an organization that needs more resources,” Cambron said. “As a board, when we were discussing different areas to support, their name came up. The children that they support hit close to our heart.”
This year, Lakeside Live is moving to the parking area next to the water. The move off the grassy areas of the park will make life easier for festivalgoers and organizers alike, Cambron said.
They took a page from another popular local event, LakeFest, to address parking problems. “Traffic control (last year) was a nightmare,” Cambron said. (LakeFest’s ) set up was very well organized. So, we’ll move to the parking lot near the water.”
He added, “It opens up a lot of parking and makes the whole event easier for spectators to be able to enjoy. It gives us the opportunity to have better handicapped-accessible parking, better parking for large and small vehicles. Just overall, the whole experience will be better.”
Another change in 2025? Musically, the event will return to a homegrown feel. Last year alt rock band, The Spin Doctors, who made a splash on the charts in the 1990’s, headlined the event. This year, local entertainers will fill the bill. Every musical genre will be celebrated.
“This year, we want to go back to our roots,” Cambron said. “We want to have more focus on our local community.”
While the music lineup is still in the works, local favorites Sand Rock, a group of Pell City High School students, will perform, as well as the Leverton Brothers.
Jazzed up cars and trucks will also be featured at the festival’s Motorfest event. Prizes will be awarded to the best vehicles in a variety of categories, including best in show car and best in show truck, best interior, best paint job, best engine, police choice, fire choice, promoters choice and more. Registration for the car show is at 10 the morning of the festival, with awards presented at 2.
For questions about Motorfest, call (205) 200-0359, or check out the Lakeside Motorfest Event page on Facebook,
The car show and other events at the festival will be 100 percent family friendly.
“I’m passionate about creating a family friendly atmosphere,” said Cambron. “I’ve been to events where I’m walking around with my kids and the DJ is playing music full of profanity, it just doesn’t feel right. My goal is to build an event where everyone feels welcome, comfortable, and proud to be there. We want people to leave feeling like they experienced something positive, something truly worth coming to.”
Food and drink for every taste will be on sale from local restaurants and food trucks, as well as a wide variety of arts and crafts and boutiques for men and women, folks of all ages and interests. In short, there’s something for everyone. “We just want people to come and spend money with our local vendors,” Cambron said.
And there will also be friendly competition between Pell City police and firefighters at several events, notably a tug of war. Known as “The Battle of the Badges,” a pro wrestling style championship belt and bragging rights will be on the line.
More important, the competition aims to forge closer bonds between first responders and the public they serve.
“That is our most favorite event,” Cambron said. “Our foundation is about bringing people together. Usually, when you see a police officer or a firefighter, it’s not the best of times. Usually something bad has happened. It’s the same with firefighters. We want to give people a warm, happy feeling about first responders and intensify it with this competition.”
Lakeside Live Musicfest reflects what’s best about Pell City, Cambron said.
“I’ve lived in a few different towns,” he said. “Pell City has a sense of comfort. There’s a lot of really, really great people that live in this town. This is one of the few towns I’ve been in when, if there’s an event that’s happening, people turn out and support it, whether it’s hot as it can be, or pouring down rain. The people come out. It’s unlike any other community I’ve ever been a part of. The town is what makes this event and every other event here great.”
