PHOTO — The Rum Runners, “one of Connecticut’s most popular cover bands,” play a high-energy set of “the best classic and new music out there” in front of a packed crowd at the Savin Rock Festival in West Haven’s Old Grove Park on Friday, July 25. (City Photo/Andrew Kosarko)
WEST HAVEN, July 29, 2025 — The Savin Rock Festival’s 2025 edition, held in Old Grove Park on Friday and Saturday, July 25-26, commemorated West Haven’s storied amusement park heritage with live music and great food — and helicopter rides.
The festival’s opening night showcased The Stevie Experience performing a tribute to the “music, story and legacy” of Stevie Nicks, while Live and Let Die: The Music of Paul McCartney, featuring Tony Kishman of the Broadway musical “Beatlemania,” headlined Night 2. Both nights attracted thousands of families to the historic Grove.
The shoreline event, presented by the Savin Rock Festival Committee, paid homage to the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of Savin Rock Park, once known as Connecticut’s Coney Island and locally as “the Rock.”
It was sponsored by Premium Parking, Affordable Waste Systems, CDM Smith, Gilbane and The Frankson Fence Co. Inc.
The festival included a free inflatable park, nonprofit organizations with informational tables, and a variety of food and dessert trucks.
The two-day event also included a beer garden and the traditional craft fair.
The festival opened both days with Mayor Dorinda Borer greeting the large crowds and followed with a spectacular duet of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Olivia Clarke, 11, of Hamden, and Ruby Iovanna, 11, of Guilford.
WOW Radio personality Brian Smith once again served as the “ringmaster” of ceremonies.
Night 1’s musical opener, the Rum Runners, “one of Connecticut’s most popular cover bands,” played a high-energy set of “the best classic and new music out there.”
Day 2 kicked off with the Rotary Club’s free pancake breakfast, followed by the Department of Parks and Recreation’s bocce tournament.
For the first time, the festival offered helicopter rides for $50 per person. From morning to dusk, people of all ages lined up to take a five-minute flight up and down the West Haven shoreline.
At the Police Department’s bicycle safety table, officers handed out bike helmets and locks.
Firefighters of the West Haven Fire Department, led by Fire Marshal Roger Sicotte, demonstrated the department’s 35-foot smoke trailer and showed children what to do in case of a fire.
The Breakwall won the second annual Great Bartender Race, which provided nonstop fun and laughs on Oak Street Beach. Teams of four competed in relays of skill to determine West Haven’s best mixologists.
The Savin Rock Theatre Company presented a performance by Broadway singers on the main stage, while children’s activities filled the Grove, including face painting and henna tattoos. Bocce the Clown interacted with kids around the park.
West Haven’s finest won the inaugural Park-Rec cornhole match against the city’s bravest for bragging rights until next year’s contest.
West Haven firefighters demonstrated the Jaws of Life tool by prying open parts of a vehicle to free those trapped inside.
Members of West Haven Professional Firefighters Local 1198 held their annual fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. All proceeds went to MDA, including sales from beverages, popcorn and chips and ticket sales from a bounce house, a dunk tank, a speed pitch and raffles.
Belly dancers from Viva! Dance performed on the concrete pad in front of the stage.
Night 2’s musical opener, the Voices of Rock, performed an electrifying classic rock tribute show featuring the powerhouse voice and captivating stage presence of Sean Byrne, the lead singer of last year’s festival tribute band, the Foreigner Journey Experience.
West Haven’s flagship festival was established in 1982 by the Chamber of Commerce — initially under the direction of Brian M. Stone, David Gesler and Michael Shiner and thereafter by John L. Perrone and his wife, Mary Perrone — to bring organizations, clubs, businesses and families together for a summer event that celebrates life in one of America’s oldest maritime communities.
From the dawn of the Savin Rock House hotel in 1838, the Rock had long been a resort hub until it was officially incorporated as an amusement park by the Savin Rock Park Co. on Memorial Day 1925, when it opened to 300,000 visitors and 66,000 automobiles in one spectacular day.
For the next four decades, the famous seaside park captured the hearts and imaginations of “Rock rats” young and old. “The playground of New England” shuttered on Sept. 21, 1966, to pave the way for the Savin Rock Urban Renewal Project.
— MICHAEL P. WALSH, Public Relations Information Coordinator
Scenes from the 2025 Savin Rock Festival
(City Photos/Andrew Kosarko)
