Wednesday, June 9, 2021 | summer times | Page 7
Big Eddie Cochran Car Show and Music Festival moved to October; cruise in June By Sarah Stultz
sarah.stultz@albertleatribune.com
With questions in the spring about whether COVID-19 restrictions would be lifted in time for summer events, the Freeborn County Historical Museum moved the traditional Eddie Cochran Car Show & Music Festival to the first weekend in October. On the usual Eddie Cochran weekend, on June 12, it will instead host a car cruise around the lakes of Freeborn County starting at 2 p.m. from the former Shopko parking lot. Stephanie Kibler, executive director of the Freeborn County Historical Museum, said the plan is to also have a cash prize drawing. The cruise will go through several communities, including Albert Lea, Conger, Alden, Freeborn, Manchester, Geneva and Hayward and then back to Albert Lea. There is no Eddie cost to participate. Cochran On Oct. 1 the traditional Eddie Cochran Car Show & Music Festival festivities will begin with a cruise-in on Broadway in downtown Albert Lea, starting at 3 p.m., and the Whitesidewalls will perform at the Fountain Lake Gazebo at 7:30 p.m. The next day, on Oct. 2, registration for the car show will begin at 8:30 a.m. with the show starting at 10 a.m. Awards will be given out at 2 p.m., with a cruise to start at 4 p.m. “We are hoping for a similar setup to what’s been done in the past with food trucks,” Kibler said. The cruise route after the show will follow the traditional route around Fountain Lake. The festivities are in honor of Cochran, who was born in Albert Lea on Oct. 3, 1938. He started playing the guitar when he was 12 years old and toured as a country music performer with the Cochran Brothers after his family moved to California. He made the move to to rock ’n’ roll with his hit “Sitting on the Balcony,” in 1957, selling more than 1 million copies. Other Cochran hits include “Summertime Blues,” “C’mon Everybody,” “Something Else,” and “Jeannie, Jeannie, Jeannie.” Cochran died on Easter Sunday 1960 when the cab taking him to Heathrow Airport crashed.
The Eddie Cochran Car Show & Music Festival will take place Oct. 1 and 2 this year. A car cruise is also planned for June 12. Colleen Harrison/albert lea tribune
Vicki Hansen stands with her 1955 Crown Victoria during Eddie Eventgoers check out classic and unique cars along Broadway Cochran weekend a previous year, complete with a drive-in Avenue in downtown Albert Lea a previous year of Eddie Cochran display. tribune file pHoto weekend. Colleen Harrison/albert lea tribune Kibler said it was fitting that the dates for the car show and music festival this
year are right before his birthday on Oct. 3, and they are hoping to do something
during the weekend to also celebrate his birthday.
