For the weekend of May 19 & 20, 2012, a quiet farm in Weddington was transformed into a loud and lively, family-friendly, musical charity event with the aim of raising money and awareness in the fight against cancer.

Keller Williams, George Porter, Jr. and Hannah Ford were among the many acts that performed at drumSTRONG 2012.

drumSTRONG 2012 featured a 30 hour non-stop drum circle as well as a KidZone, YogaThon, belly dancers and more. Proceeds benefited local and national cancer organizations.

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Individuals or teams raise funds through ‘per-hour drumming’ sponsorship. Participants choose the cancer initiative that they want to support with their drumming.

"We encourage people to play and have a good time but also understand and respect the intention," Swimmer says. "Hold someone in your heart while you're drumming of in honor of, or in memory of, or for your own fortification."

A health expo is also set up with resources that offer important information about methods of prevention, detection, treatment and care.

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drumSTRONG's origins date back to 2004, when Scott Swimmer and his wife, Carola, were confronted with the devastating news that their 15-year-old son, Mason was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a bone cancer. For the next ten months, the entire family joined together to beat cancer.

A personal hero of Mason's, Lance Armstrong, invited Mason to take part in the 2006 Lance Armstrong Foundation’s ‘Ride for the Roses’ event in Austin, TX. The family came back feeling inspired and motivated to create their own way to raise awareness and funds to support cancer survivorship.

"We were going to do something big to help the cancer community," says Mason's father and drumSTRONG founder, Scott Swimmer. "Part of it was for those that couldn't necessarily participate in the physical and athletic events. We figured music was going to be that vehicle. Why not drumming? We're all drummers. Everyone can bang on something, regardless of their health."

Six months later, the non-profit DrumsForCures produced the first annual drumSTRONG event. Every year, the event gets bigger and better, adding more live acts and breaking world records for the longest-running continuous drum circle.

"I think it does instill a lot of hope in others who are going through cancer, or have family or friends who are going through cancer," Mason's brother Toby says.