BARRE, Vt. (WCAX) – A Central Vermont celebration is gearing up for its final year.
RockFire is an annual festival celebrating Central Vermont’s granite heritage. It’s held at the abandoned quarries on Millstone Hill in Barre.
The event kicks off at 6 p.m. Saturday with musical performances and the signature firewalk, a 3-mile-long procession lit by thousands of candles and luminaries.
Organizers say they’re slowing down as they age but hope that this is just goodnight, not goodbye.
“It’s officially the last year, what I’ve said is we’re not throwing the candles away… We’re packing them away and maybe we’ll have a five-year recreation but that community that we’ve developed over the last 14 years is why we’re not closing the door completely,” said Pierre Couture, the creator of RockFire.
The event began back in 2012 as a fundraiser to preserve Barre’s historic quarry lands and the role of the granite industry in Vermont’s early growth.