The Ridgefield Independent Film Festival will present RIFF Rocks The Park with two events at Ridgefield's Ballard Park, on Friday evening, May 20th and all day Saturday, May 21st. The two-day event will celebrate the connection between music and film and will run concurrently with the film festival. Ballard Park is located at 485 Main St., Ridgefield (the corner of Gilbert and Main).

On Friday evening at 7:30 p.m., the Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra's Wind Ensemble, led by Albert Montecalvo, will officially open the film festival, playing a selection of themes from famous film scores. The concert will be immediately followed by a screening of The Beatles classic forerunner for indie film, A Hard Day's Night in the park.

RIFF Rocks the Park resumes on Saturday 11a.m. - 6 pm with an all-day music festival in the park. Eight local indie bands will perform throughout the afternoon, playing original material and covers of songs that have appeared in films or on soundtracks over the years. Bands in the order in which they are playing:
Blank Slate
Tori and the Renegades
Quiet Giant
Telegram Scam
Spectral Fangs
Chica Non Grata
The Sawtelles
Lys Guillorn & Her Band (featuring Still River Editions' own Lys Guillorn.)

"Both Indie filmmakers and indie musicians are hungry, committed and know how to get things done," explains RIFF Music Director, Spencer Eldridge. "We wanted to bring them together for the festival so they can experience each others' work in a warm and friendly setting and hopefully make some connections to other artists they might not otherwise find the time to meet."

The Ridgefield Independent Film Festival, created by local playwright and theatre director, Joanne Hudson, is a site-specific film festival that aims to make the world a more compassionate place through the sharing of stories from around the world through cinema. RIFF brings more than 70 films from 23 countries around the globe to Ridgefield, Connecticut for thoughtful screenings in curated venues such as the Ridgefield Playhouse, Ridgefield Library, Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Keeler Tavern Museum and the Prospector Theater. In addition, RIFF offers master classes in different aspects of film and filmmaking. The festival runs May 20-22.