HATFIELD — The Hatfield Firefighters Association Bonfire Music Festival is returning once again on Saturday, Oct. 12, from 4:30-10 p.m. with a new music lineup and plans once again to set a giant blaze for a fun community night in support for the Fire Department.
The association is a registered nonprofit organization, and the bonfire serves as a yearly fundraiser to help support the mission of the association. With the funding the association raises, they provide yearly scholarships to students, the purchasing of life safety equipment for firefighters and provides donations to local organizations.
Hatfield Fire Department Capt. Luke Longstreeth is on the Fire Association and is an active organizer of the event. He explained the event was created by a group of private citizens who wanted to put on a fundraiser for the community with proceeds going to the Fire Department.
Shortly after its formation, the Hatfield Fire Association formed a committee to help the private citizens and take the reigns of organizing the event. Over the course of its history, the community support has grown as much as the tall flames from the many pallets burned each year.
“The revenue we generate from this, both from donations and ticket sales and food and beverage sales during the event, we can use it to purchase EVI apparatus [specialty vehicles for first responders] that the town, being a small town, would have a hard time funding otherwise. It’s massive,” Longstreeth said.
An example of the benefits to the department, thanks to the fundraiser in the past, was when the department was able to purchase a new utility truck that is used for hazmat incidents, wildfire responses, or for transportation for firefighters attending different trainings during the year. The association donated the truck to the town thanks to funding raised.
Longstreeth also explained the scholarship account used by the association each year goes to students looking to get into any first responder programming.
“We consider ourselves very fortunate that this group of private citizens wanted to start this event ultimately for us to take over. An event of this scale was not anything any of us every dreamt of. Typically, it’s like a boot drive or a car wash or something of that nature,” Longstreeth said.
Longstreeth added with the fundraising festivals growth, it has been important for organizers to secure a variety of artists who are on the up and up. This year’s festival lineup will be headlined by Frankie Ballard and will also feature artists Cottonwood, Charlie Collins and Aiden Brown.
“It’s a good mix of both rock, southern rock and country and so it really covers a few different genres that hopefully gets everybody up and dancing and having a good time,” Longstreeth said.
Also expected at this year’s festival are a mix of food vendors and two different drink locations for alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks, providing plenty of space for bonfire attendees.
“We’re just trying to make the best event we possibly can with the resources that we have available to us. It takes a lot of funds to be able to put this on and we’re very thankful to all our sponsors that have stepped up to help us make this a reality,” Longstreeth said.
There is no seating provided so the event is bring your own lawn chair and attendees can sit anywhere on the grass area. The plan is to burn about 1,200 pallets all together throughout the night.
“It’s never an exact science of exactly how you high you get it but we’re on pace for the same size fire as last year and last year was our biggest one yet,” Longstreeth said.
Longstreeth shared that the event is always rewarding from a community perspective as so many people come together for the cause from all over the region.
“At the end of the day it’s a fundraiser, so to be able to have people spend their hard-earned money to come and help support the Firefighters Association, and ultimately the community of Hatfield, it really means a lot to all of us to help put it on,” Longstreeth said.
Tickets can be found on Eventbrite.com. For a link to the ticket site and for more information on this year’s bonfire, visit hatfieldbonfire.com or the Hatfield Firefighters Association Bonfire Facebook page. Limited tickets remain available.
