Fall semester will include Country Night Lights
Country music is not a foreign genre to Athens residents, but Bobcats have the chance to attend an entire festival dedicated to southern swing.
The first Country Night Lights music festival is taking place Sept. 26 at The Venue located on State Route 56, with Sam Hunt, Easton Corbin and more.
“Rather than doing another Number Fest element for the fall, we figured we could do a different genre,” said Adam Lynn, a member of Prime Social Group and a founder of Country Night Lights.
The opening act has not yet been decided, Lynn said. Since multiple musicians took an interest in playing at the festival, Lynn said Prime Social Group will be hosting a competition.
“Rather than just picking out of a hat, I thought this would be a good way to see whoever is able to get the most votes will get to open for the festival,” he added.
Unlike other events hosted by Prime Social Group in the past, such asNumber Fest, Country Night Lights is not going to be a BYOB event, Lynn said. Alcohol will be for sale at the event.
“We’re encouraging it to be more of a family style event, more so than what we have for Number Fest, which tends to be more of a strictly college age crowd,” Lynn added.
The family-oriented, single-staged event will include a Ferris wheel and a food truck, Lynn said. Children younger than 5 years old will be admitted into the festival for free, he added.
Students also have taken an interest in the new country festival. Lexi Newman, a sophomore studying early childhood education, said she is excited to have up-and-coming country artists, such as Sam Hunt, Easton Corbin and Chase Bryant come to Athens for an inexpensive price.
“It’d be kind of nice if they dropped some of the smaller acts I've never heard of and got someone bigger,” she added.
Lynn estimates the attendance to be between 10,000 and 12,000. While ticket sales have only reached a quarter of the estimated amount, Lynn said ticket sales tend to spike closer to the event.
Currently tickets are being sold for $40 at TicketFly.com, Lynn said.
“Unless people are really waiting until the last minute, they’ll be able to get it at $40,” he added.
Prime Social Group plans for Country Night Lights to be an annual event, and Lynn said he’s looking forward to the new event.
“I almost wish we had started it earlier,” he added.
Indie Fest, an Athens music festival focusing on independent artists, has been moved to fall semester this year and is still being planned, but no updates have been given as of press time.
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