RBC Rock the Park, formerly known as Start.ca Rocks the Park and Hawk Rocks the Park, is an annual music concert held at Harris Park in London, Ontario, Canada. From 2004 to 2008, it was primarily a classic rock concert sponsored by radio station 103.9 The Hawk. In 2010, the three-day concert was sponsored by three radio stations: 98.1 Free FM, FM96, and country music station BX93.
For the first 12 years, the purpose of the event was to raise money for Bethany's Hope Foundation for MLD Research, which raised over $2.2 million.
Since 2016, Rock the Park has teamed up with the following charities: Big Brothers Big Sisters of London and Area, Make-A-Wish Southwestern Ontario and Children's Health Foundation, while also supporting Western Mustangs Football. In 2019, they rebranded the name to Start.ca Rocks the Park with their partnership with Start.ca. In 2023, they again rebranded to RBC Rock the Park to reflect their partnership with Royal Bank of Canada.
Rock the Park I The first Rock the Park was held July 22–24 in 2004. Its main function was to raise money for Bethany's Hope Foundation and it raised more than $110,000. It featured several musical groups:
Thursday, July 22 Blood, Sweat & Tears Randy Bachman Lighthouse Voodoo Lounge
Friday, July 23 Alice Cooper Foghat Edgar Winter Helix
Saturday, July 24 Steppenwolf April Wine Honeymoon Suite Goddo
Hawk Rocks the Park... Again
The second edition of Rock the Park was held over four days during July 21–24, 2005. Due to the success of the first concert, this second one was expanded to four days, during which over 40,000 Rock fans attended. It featured:
Thursday, July 21 ZZ Top Randy Bachman Brian Howe Trooper Jimmy Bowskill Band
Friday, July 22 Lou Gramm (Former singer of Foreigner) April Wine Sass Jordan Chilliwack
Saturday, July 23 REO Speedwagon Glass Tiger The Box Superfreak
Sunday, July 24 George Thorogood & The Destroyers David Wilcox Thundermug (Playing in their last concert for a long time)
Rock the Park III Held July 20–22, 2006, the groups that took part were:
Thursday, July 20 Peter Frampton Eddie Money Loverboy Ray Lyell & The Storm
Friday, July 21 Styx Kim Mitchell April Wine Saga
Saturday, July 22 Alice Cooper Vince Neil (of Mötley Crüe) Quiet Riot Helix
Rock the Park III managed to raise $180,021 for the Bethany's Hope Foundation.
Hawk Rocks the Park: Back 4 More Rock the Park IV was run July 26–28, 2007.
Thursday, July 26 Deep Purple Ted Nugent Nazareth Honeymoon Suite
Friday, July 27 Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo Cheap Trick Rik Emmett (of Triumph) Trooper
Saturday, July 28 George Thorogood & The Destroyers Creedence Clearwater Revisited David Wilcox Rick Derringer
One of the announced bands was supposed to be Boston. The announcement was postponed after the death of Brad Delp. Subsequently, all of Boston's plans for touring, including Hawk Rocks the Park, were cancelled.
Hawk Rocks the Park 5 Rock the Park 5 ran from July 23 to July 26, 2008.
Wednesday, July 23 Ted Nugent Great White Diamond Dust (Winner of Rockstar Fantasy)
Thursday, July 24 Sammy Hagar Joan Jett & The Blackhearts Skid Row Lee Aaron
Friday July 25 Steve Winwood Tom Cochrane Sweet Pat Travers
Saturday July 26 Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings Mark Farner (of Grand Funk Railroad) April Wine Streetheart
Rock the Park 2009 Rock the Park 2009 was held July 23–25, 2009. This marked the first time Rock the Park was not fully put on by The Hawk. Instead it was put on by two other major London radio stations as well. July 23 was presented by FM96, July 24 by BX93, and July 25 by The Hawk.
Thursday, July 23 The Tragically Hip Kathleen Edwards Arkells The Spades
Friday, July 24 Big & Rich Cowboy Troy Aaron Pritchett Shane Yellowbird
Saturday, July 25 The Doobie Brothers Creedence Clearwater Revisited Dennis DeYoung (Former singer of Styx) Lighthouse
Rock the Park 2010 Rock the Park 2010 was held from July 22–24, 2010. It was presented by Bob FM. Approximately $1 million was raised for the Bethany's Hope Foundation.
Thursday, July 22 3 Doors Down Collective Soul Thornley Crash Karma
Friday, July 23 Alice Cooper Peter Frampton Night Ranger Alannah Myles
Saturday, July 24 Lynyrd Skynyrd Heart April Wine Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
Rock the Park 2011 The 2011 edition of Rock the Park took place over three days in July 2011. That year's sponsors included FM 96, 103.1 Fresh FM, 103.9 Greatest Hits FM and AM980, among others.
Thursday, July 21 Poison John Kay & Steppenwolf Trooper Loverboy
Friday, July 22 Meat Loaf Cheap Trick Blue Öyster Cult Brian Howe (Singer of Bad Company)
Saturday, July 23 Stone Temple Pilots Our Lady Peace Sloan Bleeker Ridge
Rock the Park 2012 Thursday July 26, 2012 (Modern Rock Night) Slash w/ Myles Kennedy Bush I Mother Earth Monster Truck
Friday July 27, 2012 (Classic Rock Night 1) The Steve Miller Band George Thorogood David Wilcox The Romantics
Saturday July 28, 2012 (Classic Rock Night 2) Boston REO Speedwagon 54-40 Prism
Rock the Park 2013, 10th Anniversary Thursday July 25, 2013 (Modern Rock Night) The Tragically Hip The Trews The Rural Alberta Advantage Greg Ball and The Dry County Rebels
Friday July 26, 2013 (Classic Rock Night 1) Journey Whitesnake Platinum Blonde Helix
Saturday July 27, 2013 (Classic Rock Night 2) Styx Toto Grand Funk Railroad Saga Coney Hatch
Rock the Park 2014 Rock the Park XI took place July 24–26, 2014. A new event, the Gone Country Music Festival, sponsored by radio station BX93, was held at Harris Park on Wednesday, July 23, 2014.
Wednesday July 23, 2014 – Gone Country Music Festival Darius Rucker Dean Brody Eli Young Band Tim Hicks
Thursday July 24, 2014 Weezer Tegan & Sara Matthew Good July Talk
Friday July 25, 2014 Sammy Hagar & Friends Extreme Tom Keifer of Cinderella Winger Survivor
Saturday July 26, 2014 Burton Cummings Huey Lewis and the News 38 Special Headpins FREE FM Under the Covers Winner
Rock the Park 2015 Rock the Park XII took place July 14–18, 2015.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015 Train Gin Blossoms Fastball The Rembrandts Matt Nathanson
Wednesday, July 15, 2015 – Gone Country Keith Urban Dallas Smith Jess Moskaluke Maddie and Tae
Thursday, July 16, 2015 – Gone Country Lee Brice Thomas Rhett Joe Nichols Chad Brownlee
Friday, July 17, 2015 Arkells Mother Mother Tokyo Police Club Brave Shores Born Ruffians Young Empires
Saturday, July 18, 2015 Billy Talent Rise Against Killswitch Engage Gaslight Anthem Heart Attack Kids
Rock the Park 2016 Rock the Park 2016 took place July 13–16, 2016
Wednesday, July 13, 2016 – Gone Country Jake Owen Dallas Smith High Valley Old Dominion
Thursday, July 14, 2016 – Gone Country Brad Paisley Tim Hicks Autumn Hill River Town Saints
Friday, July 15, 2016 Flo Rida Nelly Classified Ria Mae Saturday, July 16, 2016 City and Colour Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros Awolnation The Zolas Ivory Hours
Rock the Park 2017 Rock the Park 2017 took place July 12–16, 2017. On April 10, 2017, it was announced that another night, Sunday, July 16, was added to the festival.
Wednesday, July 12, 2017 – BX93’s Gone Country Presents: Lady Antebellum Kelsea Ballerini Brett Young Jason Benoit Thursday, July 13, 2017 – Virgin Radio Presents: Wiz Khalifa Fetty Wap ft. Monty DJ Mustard Casper the Ghost Friday, July 14, 2017 – Virgin Radio Presents: I Love the '90s Tour Vanilla Ice Salt-N-Pepa Naughty by Nature Rob Base All-4-One Color Me Badd Young MC C+C Music Factory Saturday, July 15, 2017 – FM96 Presents: The Offspring Sublime with Rome July Talk Bleeker Sunday, July 16, 2017 – Virgin Radio Presents: Marianas Trench Alessia Cara Scott Helman Ruth B Ryland James
Rock the Park 2018 Rock the Park 2018 takes place July 11–14, 2018.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 – FM96 Presents: Shinedown Chevelle Machine Gun Kelly The Lazys Bobnoxious
Thursday, July 12, 2018: Cyndi Lauper Bret Michaels Howard Jones Kim Mitchell Richard Page of Mr. Mister Platinum Blonde A Flock of Seagulls
Friday, July 13, 2018 – Virgin Radio Presents: Boyz II Men En Vogue Naughty by Nature Coolio Montell Jordan Sisqó
Saturday, July 14, 2018 – FM96 Presents: Rise Against Three Days Grace Theory Pop Evil Texas King
Start.ca Rocks the Park 2019 Start.ca Rocks the Park 2019 took place July 10–13, 2019.
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 – Pure Country 93 Presents:
Old Dominion James Barker Band David Lee Murphy Russell Dickerson Tenille Townes Jade Eagleson
Thursday, July 11, 2019 – FM96 Presents:
Five Finger Death Punch In This Moment Killswitch Engage I Prevail Pop Evil
Friday, July 12, 2019: 97.5 Virgin Radio Presents:
Snoop Dogg Shaggy Ma$e Ginuwine Tone Loc
Saturday, July 13, 2019: 97.5 Virgin Radio Presents:
On Monday July 8, 2019, due to travel situations, the set order was changed. As a result, the headline act, Pitbull, opened the show, followed by T-Pain and finally Flo Rida.
Pitbull Flo Rida T-Pain
Start.ca Rocks the Park 2020 Start.ca Rocks the Park 2020 was to have taken place July 15–18, 2020.
On April 27, 2020, festival organizers announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival had been postponed for one year until 2021. Due to scheduling conflicts, various artists could not be reconfirmed for two of the postponed dates. As a result, the artists who were to perform on Wednesday, July 15, 2020, and Saturday, July 18, 2020 had been cancelled.
Wednesday, July 15, 2020 – FM96 and 103.1 Fresh FM Present: CANCELLED
Jack Johnson Vance Joy TBA Andy Shauf
Thursday, July 16, 2020 – FM96 Presents: POSTPONED To Thursday July 15, 2021
Blink-182 Simple Plan grandson
Friday, July 17, 2020: 97.5 Virgin Radio Presents: POSTPONED To Friday July 16, 2021
TLC Nelly Arrested Development Jenny Berggren of Ace of Base 112 2 Live Crew
Saturday, July 18, 2020 Pure Country 93 Presents: CANCELLED
Dallas Smith Billy Currington Travis Tritt Blanco Brown
Start.ca Rocks the Park 2021 Start.ca Rocks the Park 2021 was to have taken place July 14–17, 2021.
On May 17, 2021, festival organizers announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival once again had been postponed for another year until 2022. The organizers said that they were working with the artists to play on the rescheduled dates.
Wednesday, July 14, 2021:
TBA
Thursday, July 15, 2021 – FM96 Presents: POSTPONED To Thursday July 14, 2022
Blink-182 Simple Plan
Friday, July 16, 2021: 97.5 Virgin Radio Presents: POSTPONED To Friday July 15, 2022
On April 27, 2020, Aqua was added to the line up.
TLC Nelly Aqua Jenny Berggren of Ace of Base 2 Live Crew Arrested Development
Saturday, July 17, 2021:
TBA
Start.ca Rocks the Park 2022 Start.ca Rocks the Park 2022 took place July 13–17, 2022.
Wednesday, July 13, 2022 – FM96 & fresh103.1 Present:
Alanis Morissette Garbage The Beaches Crash Test Dummies
Thursday, July 14, 2022 – FM96 Presents:
The Glorious Sons July Talk Big Wreck The Trews Conor Gains
Friday, July 15, 2022 – 97.5 Virgin Radio Presents:
TLC Aqua Ja Rule DMC (of Run-DMC) and the Hellraisers Jenny Berggren of Ace of Base 112 2 Live Crew
Saturday, July 16, 2022 – FizzFest: Virginia to Vegas Kiesza Alyssa Reid Rêve (singer)
Sunday, July 17, 2022 – Pure Country 93 Presents:
Dierks Bentley Ashley McBryde The Reklaws Breland
RBC Rock the Park 2023 RBC Rock the Park 2023 took place July 12–15, 2023.
Wednesday, July 12, 2023 – FM96 Presents:
Mumford & Sons Vance Joy Bahamas The Trews
Thursday, July 13, 2023:
Volbeat Papa Roach Halestorm Default
Friday, July 14, 2023 – 97.5 Virgin Radio Presents:
Ludacris T.I. Ja Rule Ashanti Mya Chingy
Saturday, July 15, 2023 – FM96 Presents:
Billy Talent Alexisonfire Cypress Hill Silverstein The Dirty Nil
RBC Rock the Park 2024