Country music star Travis Tritt performs Friday night during the Rock the Rind concert series, which is part of the Jackson County Watermelon Festival in Brownstown.
Colin Woods | for The Tribune
Crystal Stuckwisch and her son, Sloan Stuckwisch, prepare free watermelon on Saturday for those attending the Jackson County Watermelon Festival. The Brownstown Central High School Chorus Parents Support group served watermelon throughout the weekend.
Aubrey Woods | The Tribune
Sloan Stuckwisch slices free watermelon on Saturday for those attending the Jackson County Watermelon Festival. The Brownstown Central High School Chorus Parents Support group served watermelon throughout the weekend.
Aubrey Woods | The Tribune
There were melons and musicians galore at the Jackson County Watermelon Festival and Rock the Rind this year.
Held on the first weekend of August, the festival was a roaring success earlier this month. Thousands upon thousands of guests attended this year’s festival, reveling in event staples such as the Seed Spitting Contest and Watermelon Steal, in addition to the rocking line-up of country music artists, including Travis Tritt.
Jackson County Building Commissioner Connor Barnette, who led the effort to hold the festival, estimates more than 20,000 people joined in on the fun this year.
Barnette said while he does not have exact numbers on attendance, he feels comfortable ballparking the following numbers for the ticketed portion of the event: just under 1,000 on Thursday, 3,800 on Friday and 3,000 on Saturday. Comparatively, last year there were 1,400 guests in attendance for the ticketed portion on Friday and just under 1,000 on Saturday.
Barnette said the festival had approximately 200 volunteers on-site throughout the weekend in various capacities, including multiple organizations from Brownstown Central High School.
“This community is just unbelievable,” Barnette said. “We’re planning an event to thank them and show our appreciation in the near future. None of this is possible without them.”
Event organizers donated $5,000 to school organizations as thanks for their help, including the football team (clean-up and teardown), the cross country team (merchandise sales), the choir (watermelon service) and the cheerleading team and squad (watermelon patch).
“We’re looking forward to continuing our partnership with the schools in 2025 and inviting more organizations to participate,” Barnette said. “In addition to the school organizations, there were many teachers and administrators on-site volunteering all weekend long. We started this event as a fundraiser for Brownstown Ewing Main Street and this town. It’s extremely important to us to pump these funds back into the community.”
Local non-profits involved in the festival this year included the Brownstown Exchange Club, Healthy Jackson County, The Boy’s & Girls Club, ARC Jackson County and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Posse.
“I can’t stress enough how thankful we are to this community and our sponsors,” Barnette said. “This is a very unique venue with limited capacity. Bringing national touring acts to a town of 3,000 people is not possible without the overwhelming support of our Rock the Rind partners. We look forward to continuing to build on the experience and building our reputation as one of the most prominent music festivals in the state of Indiana.”
Barnette said event organizers have purchased equipment over the last two years to alleviate rental costs moving forward.
“A large portion of our profits will be used to continue growing the event next year and building our inventory for the future,” he said. “That being said, we will continue our work in the community and investing in Brownstown beautification, quality of life, programs, non-for-profits and placemaking. We are proud of the work we’ve done thus far but we’re just getting started.