Rochesterfest Buttons Now On Sale

Rochesterfest is just over six weeks away, but the buttons officially went on sale this morning. As he's done in the past, Mayor Ardell Brede was on hand to buy the very first button of the year.

A press conference was held this morning at City Hall where the mayor made his purchase from button chairperson Kristine Ihrke. The designer of this year's button, Heather Tollers, was also on hand. This year's Rochesterfest theme is 'A Walk in the Park' which coincides with the event moving to its new location at Soldiers Memorial Field Park.

There are many bargains available to people with Rochesterfest buttons including free swimming at Soldiers Field Pool. Other button bargains and a full list of events are available in this year's brochure or on the Rochesterfest website.

At the press conference it was also announced that free shuttle buses will be running from downtown to Soldiers Field and back each weekday between 11am and 2pm. This was made possible by a grant from Mayo Clinic. Mayo will also open up some of its lots in the area for Rochesterfest parking, weekdays after 5pm and all day on Saturday. Those lots will be marked with signs.

This year's festival will also have a special 'bike corral' set up to encourage people to ride their bike to Soldiers Field.

The 33rd annual Rochesterfest celebration will take place June 20th through 28th.