Daniel Prince
Lonestar to headline the festival
Paul Winters with the Union County Fair Association, Tourism Director Curtiss Hunter, and Steven Stone with the Southeastern Treeing Walker Association were on the morning show Tuesday to announce a new festival coming to the fairgrounds. They are calling it the Butts & Boogie Festival, and it is coming to the fairgrounds on April 5-9.
Paul Winters gave some details:
(audio below story)
They are partnering with Amusements of America to bring 15 or so rides to the event, along with carnival food from local and traveling vendors. They will have a couple of ground attractions performing throughout the week. One is called Pork Chop Review, which is a comedy show with trained pigs. They will also have a petting zoo there by Enduro Farms. A BBQ competition will be held Friday and Saturday, with some of the BBQ offered for sale on Saturday.
Gate admission Tuesday will be $2 with the donation of a canned food item to benefit The Potter’s Storehouse. They will have a Community Christian Music Night on Wednesday, featuring Shon Morris, Tracy Wade, Heath Johnson, Patti Turner, and The Riverside Boys. Thursday will be student night, with free admission for students.
The SC Barbecue Association-sanctioned BBQ competition will begin Friday, with judging set for Saturday. Steven Stone said they get the meat for the competition from Midway BBQ, and the competitors always brag on the quality of meat that they get. The Junior Charity League’s Spring Market will take place in the exhibit hall Friday and Saturday. The event will feature an AKC Bench Show on Saturday.
Rising country singer Jess Kellie Adams will perform on the fairgrounds stage Friday night. She will also open for Lonestar on Saturday at the stadium. Gates will open for the concert at 4:30, with Adams taking the stage at 6 and Lonestar at 7:30. General admission tickets for the Lonestar concert, which will also cover gate admission to the Butts & Boogie Festival, will be $30. VIP tickets will be $50. There will be several sponsorship levels available, as well. Tickets will go on sale through Freshtix.com soon. They will also be available at some businesses around the community.
Organizers hope to have a lot of community support for the festival, and they hope to draw in people from surrounding areas, such as Spartanburg, Greenville, and Columbia. We’ll have more information on tickets and promotions for the event in the coming weeks.