State fairgrounds set for country music fest
Global entertainment giant Live Nation has jumped on board to partner with Dewey Beach-based Highway One to present a three-day country music festival in August at Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington.
Brian O'Connell, Live Nation's president of country music touring, joined with Highway One President Alex Pires at the fairgrounds during an Oct. 30 press conference to announce the Aug. 14-16, 2015 event.
Calling the festival a three-day hillbilly sleepover, O'Connell said the line-up for the event would be announced in a few weeks.
“Brian will bring in the very best country music performers in the world,” Pires said.
Live Nation is the creator of several mega country music festivals including Faster Horses in Michigan, Farmborough in New York City and Watershed in Washington.
Pires said his nightclubs have featured more than 100 country acts over the years. “We've been able to get the smaller stars on their way up, and Live Nation will get the people at the top,” he said.
Current country music superstars Justin Aldean, Miranda Lambert, Eric Church and Lady Antebellum all performed at Pires' music venues before they were top names.
The three-day event will be held on 27 acres in the southern section of the fairgrounds to allow for camping and space for at least two stages. “We want to build a sense of community for an event that people will circle on their calendars every year,” O'Connell said. “We don't want to replicate what the state fair already has done. We want to add another look to it to be a little bit different.”
O'Connell said country music will continue to be the foundation of the fair's entertainment each year. “This is a great time in the history of country music,” he said. “There are an abundance of country stars who are touring; there are plenty to go around.”
Known for promoting rock music concerts at his Dewey Beach clubs, Pires has taken a keen interest in country music, attending several of the country's top festivals over the past two years. He originally had plans to have the festival in Sussex County.
Through his Highway One Companies, Pires filed a conditional-use application with Sussex County for an outdoor entertainment venue with temporary camping on 500 acres of a 1,000-acre farm in rural Sussex. He said as many as 20,000 people - mostly in RVs and campers - would attend the country music festival.
Pire also told Sussex officials he had discussed the idea with state fair officials as a backup plan if the Sussex site did not work out. He withdrew the original application Aug. 19, the same day Sussex County Council was set to vote. The county's planning and zoning commission voted Aug. 7, recommending council deny the request.
