Oyster Fest Nearly Drowns

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts were forced to cancel their headlining show when a “freak storm” forced closure of events Sept. 6 at the Oyster Festival in Norwalk, Conn.

Photo: Jason Miller / Invision for Hard Rock International / AP Images
Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park, Northfield, Ohio

The festival reopened the next and final day despite serious damage to the main stage and numerous vendor tents.

“We’re very disappointed,” Norwalk Seaport Association President Irene Dixon told TheHour.com, a local news aggregator. “We worked very hard on this festival, as we do every year. The safety of the public is what’s important to us.

“It was really a freak storm,” Davis said of the deluge that included nearby lightning sightings. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

But the sky cleared and the grounds dried out enough to open the gates of the 37th annual event on Sept. 7, with the loss of only a few vendors.