LAWRENCE TWP. − The Country Fest founders admit it’s difficult to top the event from year to year.
Past summers have featured mega country stars like Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson. And Country Fest is a good time pilgrimage for thousands who travel from near and far.
“We don’t set out to beat the previous year,” said Aaron Green, co-founder and co-owner of Country Fest with Joel Beichler. “That would be an impossible task because we buy acts a year in advance for the next year’s summer. Sometimes, you hit ones that become home runs and they over exceed and there’s years that doesn’t happen.”
Country Fest is June 17 to 20, featuring headliners Jordan Davis on June 17; Treaty Oak Revival on June 18; Zach Top on June 19; and Kane Brown on June 20. Also performing are Shane Profitt, Wyatt Flores, Corey Kent, Brantley Gilbert, John Morgan, Braxton Keith, Chase Matthew, Tyler Nance, Emily Ann Roberts and Lanie Gardner.
Green expects Treaty Oak Revival to put on a rocking show.
“It’s definitely a West Texas scene right now and they are kind of the hottest-selling band going around because people haven’t seen them a lot,” he said. “Maybe they’ve only had two Ohio (concerts) in their career, so this should be the biggest one they’ve had in Ohio.”
Country Fest hasn’t been afflicted by what’s known as “blue dot fever,” a reference to the blue dots representing unsold seats on Ticketmaster’s online platform and seating maps. Some notable summer tours have canceled or downscaled, with music industry observers attributing at least some of the cancellations to a downturn in sales due to high ticket prices, inflation and a spike in gas costs.
“Sales trends go up and down,” Green said. “What’s nice about us is we’ve kind of built a really nice base of loyal fans, and as long as they know we’re doing our best to bring the best music in and listening to consumer surveys on who they’d like to see, we’ll always be safe.
“We’re a destination festival or an occupancy festival,” he added. “Just meaning that you can come and make a whole week out of it, and what we try to do is we try to keep it as affordable as we can for the consumer, and yeah, could we go out and get three stadium headliners? Yes, we could, but our tickets would be $800 or $900 and that’s not what our consumer base is.”
Allison Gromofsky of Visit Canton, also known as the Stark County Convention & Visitors’ Bureau, said the music festival “creates an unforgettable experience” at Clay’s Resort Jellystone Park near Canal Fulton.
“The Country Fest continues to put Stark County on the map by attracting some of the biggest names in country music and welcoming visitors from across Ohio and beyond,” said Gromofsky, senior manager of community and partner relations.
Here’s what else you need to know about the four-day country music extravaganza:
1. The Country Fest started in 2010
Except for a COVID year, Country Fest has happened rain or shine each summer since 2010.
And when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Green and Beichler canceled the event in 2020 but came back with two Country Fests the following year.
Green and Beichler have grown the festival from modest beginnings.
“It’s definitely still surreal sometimes,” Green said. “We’re considered a mid-major (festival), which means less than 25,000 people a day but more than 15,000. That’s a lot for pretty much what I’d call four-and-a-half full-time (employees), and that’s how we kind of keep our costs down, so it is really surreal, but it can be overwhelming after all these years.”
Would the Country Fest partners ever consider selling the festival?
“We’ll probably at some point look at options out there,” he said. “But we’re still pretty young guys, we’ve got families to raise, and there’s not an intention to go out and sell, but we do get approached quite a bit.”
2. What’s new at Country Fest?
Country Fest will run as usual, but a few tweaks are made from summer to summer.
“We added another new commuter bridge and took the old ones out,” Green said. “That was a six-figure project for us to really solidify the next 20 years over there.
“We’ve got some new sponsors and new activations coming in,” he added. “Progressive is bringing a nice little sponsorship activation area, and then just some newer kind of updated, relevant safety things that are coming in that will just make everybody safer. More bodies, more of a presence, both in uniform and out of uniform.”
Also new are themed days, said Hillary Plybon, director of development at Country Fest.
“We just want people to have fun,” she said. “And we have utilized the themes throughout our event materials.”
Themes will be:
3. Who is Treaty Oak Revival?
Fans can expect to get wet at Treaty Oak Revival’s show, Green said with a laugh.
“They’re out of West Texas,” he said of the band. “And they have an awesome show, and they have a point in the show where they encourage everyone to throw their waters and beers in the air and get everybody wet like a big kind of experience.
“That’s what their famous for, so we’ve put a lot of safety protocols in place for that (show), so people aren’t getting hit in the head with bottles and things like that,” Green said.
All alcohol will be poured into plastic cups on June 18, Green said.
4. Zach and Kane
Besides Treaty Oak, there’s Zach Top, an award-winning and rising artist who performed one slot below the headliner last summer at Country Fest.
“We don’t usually go back-to-back (with an artist) unless it’s something we think is really special for us,” Green said. “Zach is the kind of next name on the way up to being the next big stadium guy, and he’s a nice guy, and the music’s good and it’s different. Now, we’re paying him much more than we did last year.”
Country music and crossover superstar Morgan Wallen climbed his way up the lineup ladder before outgrowing Country Fest and hitting the stadium circuit.
“We had Morgan Wallen at four o’clock, we had him at six o’clock and then we had him when he headlined one day,” Green said.
Kane Brown also has worked his way up from a lower-tier spot at a past Country Fest. And in 2023, Brown’s headlining slot was canceled due to a rainstorm.
“I’m excited for that show and to get Kane back and get that one off the bucket list,” Green said.
Among the more interesting opening acts is Braxton Keith, who takes the stage at 6 p.m. June 19. The newer country artist is also opening for Lainey Wilson on Aug. 9 at the Concert for Legends at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival in Canton.
5. How much are tickets?
Single day passes cost $124.46 for June 17; and $155.95 each for June 18, 19 and 20.
Two-day commuter tickets for June 19 and 20 costs $217.88; three-day commuter tickets for June 18-20 cost $228.38; and four-day tickets cost $259.87. Tickets can be purchased at www.thecountryfest.com. Information on festival camping tickets and campsite permits is available at the same link.
For information on where to enter Country Fest, go to www.thecountryfest.com/maps.
6. What else do you need to know?
Country Fest operators also offered suggestions for the smoothest experience possible.
“Just arrive early,” Green said. “Especially if you’re trying to get into the tailgate alley. The last three years, it’s been filling up earlier and earlier. Parking opens a little before 10 a.m. on the main days (June 18 to 20).
“Just arrive early and have fun,” he added. “We’ll get you out quicker than most people. Half of the people stay on the (Clay’s Resort) property. Traffic isn’t too bad on the way out.”
Reach Ed at ebalint@gannett.com. Follow on Instagram at ed_balint and TikTok @edwardbalint
If you go
What: The Country Fest
When: June 17 to 20
Where: Clay’s Resort Jellystone Park, 12951 Patterson St. NW, Lawrence Township, near Canal Fulton
Who: Country music headliners Jordan Davis on June 17; Treaty Oak Revival on June 18; Zach Top on June 19; and Kane Brown on June 20. Several other country music artists will perform each day.
Admission: For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.thecountryfest.com.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Cold beer, good music and good times. What to know about Country Fest
Reporting by Ed Balint, Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ed Balint, Canton Repository | USA TODAY Network
