Even though Country Night Lights is scheduled for the same weekend as Ohio University Parents Weekend, Adam Lynn is not worried about a decrease in ticket sales.
“I think it’s actually a good activity for parents to do with their students during the day,” Lynn, a co-owner of Prime Social Group, said. “I feel like a lot of kids’ parents are into country music.”
Prime Social Group, the group who also hosts Number Fest, will bring 13 country acts to The Venue of Athens, 8003 State Route 56, for two days of music for Country Night Lights. The opening acts will start at 5 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday. A two-day general admission ticket is $70, and a two-day VIP ticket is $100. The festival will sell alcohol on-site for people who are 21 or older, and those who attend cannot bring their own alcohol on the premise, Lynn said.
This is Country Night Lights’ second year, but its first year extending the concert across two days.
“(It) gives a lot of country fans the ability to come out and camp on-site, as opposed to the single day show,” Lynn said. “It’s pretty popular in the country world to have multi-day events like this.”
Victoria Buzzard, a sophomore studying nursing, said she went to Country Night Lights last year and did not like that the concert was long and drawn out. She added that she was “exhausted” by time Sam Hunt, the headliner for the show and the act she most wanted to see, performed.
Buzzard said she likes the idea of creating two separate days for the concert because “you can pick which day you want to go.”
Jake Owen, known for his current single “American Country Love Song,” will headline Friday night. Opening up for Owen will be country duo Brothers Osborne, Clare Dunn, Matthew Pinkham and Julia Neville.
Buzzard said she will most likely attend the event Friday to see Owen perform.
“He’s just the most popular person in the lineup that sings well-known country songs,” she said.
Brett Eldredge will perform as Saturday’s headliner. The “Drunk on Your Love” singer will follow Frankie Ballard, Chris Lane, Josh Thompson, Ryan Robinette, Shaina Rhodes, Mitch Kirkpatrick and Matt Goodrich.
Alyssa VanWinkle, a freshman studying finance and management information systems, said she will attend the country concert Saturday to see Eldredge.
“I like that I like a lot of his songs and not just one or two,” VanWinkle said. “He has a ton of amazing songs.”
VanWinkle said she goes to a lot of country concerts because she lives within an hour’s drive of the Blossom Music Center near Cleveland. Despite the number of concerts she attends, she said she has not seen any of the performers for Country Night Lights.
“I think we have one of the hottest lineups you could put together,” Lynn said. “I feel like we just got a lineup that, like, really came together super well and one that the country fans can definitely appreciate.”
