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Roxfest gets a new location and free admission for its 15th year.
The music festival, which started as a way for Roxanne Johsnon of the hard rock duo Skull'Rz Bane to celebrate her birthday, will take place Saturday at Apothic Ink Tattoo Studio in Warren after being staged at more than half-dozen different locations over the years.
Johnson said the unpredictable weather at the beginning of the summer had her looking for an indoor venue this year.
"The people at Apothic Ink, they’ve already got a stage and a setup that they’ve been doing bands in there," Johnson said. "They’re trying to create more of a local scene in this area for original bands, local bands, things like that."
There will be a vendors market and giveaways. Since they weren't doing it at an outdoor venue with overnight camping, this year's Roxfest will be free to attend.
"I just wanted to bring in more people," she said. "I'm trying to bring in more kids. The younger generation doesn't get exposed to the music as often, so I'm real excited about bringing in different-age people, all walks of life. We have different music this year. They're all rock-oriented, but they are different styles of rock."
The event starts at 1 p.m., and the music kicks off with Good Fortune at 2 p.m. A new band follows every hour with Emerald Rage, SKX, Boyd and the Monkeys, John Dante and the Inferno, Only the Lucky Ones Die, Red Crow and Puma Thurman before Skull'Rz Bane closes out the night with a 10 p.m. set.
Skull'Rz Bane remains a father-daughter duo with Drew Johnson on guitar and Roxanne Johnson on drums, but it's a third member of the family who’s been stealing the spotlight lately.
That's their pet bunny Jester, who has his own Facebook page and turned up in the Canfield Fair's social media posts last week for the attention he attracted at the fairgrounds.
"We take him everywhere with us," Johnson said. "We take him to all the shows, all the festivals and stuff, so he's definitely going to be there."
Johnson said it was hard to believe this is the 15th year, and it's been even longer since the inaugural event because there were a couple years with no Roxfest due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It’s kind of wild, because so many people have grown up in the event that they’re now bringing their kids," she said. "I’ve always had all ages there. I’ve always had kids there, but it's kind of wild that these people came of age with it and now their children are growing up in it."
If you go …
WHAT: Roxfest with Skull'Rz Bane, Emerald Rage, Puma Thurman, Red Crow, Only the Lucky Ones Die, John Dante and the Inferno, Good Fortune, Boyd and the Monkeys and SKX
WHEN: 1 to 11 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Apothic Ink Tattoo Studio, 2004 North Road SE, Warren
HOW MUCH: Admission is free.