Country Thunder Music Festival boasted its biggest audiences ever last year — average attendance 29,000, which officially meant that the festival sold out all four nights.
With the star power heading to Florence this weekend — Chris Young, Dierks Bentley, Thomas Rhett and Blake Shelton — organizers are betting they’ll see a repeat.
And the weather is expected to cooperate. Aside from a very slight (10 percent) chance of rain on Friday, April 7, Florence is going to be a sun-bathed oasis for the tens of thousands filling the Country Thunder West festival grounds Thursday, April 6, through Sunday, April 9. Daily high temps are expected to reach the mid-80s and flirt with the 90s.
That’s a far cry from last year, when rain threatened all four days, culminating in torrential downpours on the festival’s closing day with headliner Eric Church.
If the forecast holds true, it should be a pleasant evening when Blake Shelton closes out the 2017 festival on Sunday.
Here are five more tidbits about the 2017 festival that piqued our interest:
- Party ‘til dawn:
- OK, maybe not that late, but the Electric Thunder dance party under the circus big top cranks up the crazy late night yee-haw rave. DJ Hish joins forces with the wildly popular producer/performer David Fanning for the after-hours bash. (Warning: It can get kinda crazy in there.)
- Hitch a ride: For the second year, Uber is at Country Thunder. If you find yourself having imbibed too many adult beverages, or you just like the idea of someone else driving you down that winding bumpy stretch from the festival grounds to the main road, the ride-share service will offer discounts on your first ride. Download the Uber app and use the promo code CTAZ17 and get $15 off.
- Concert for a cause: For the first time in as long as we can remember — and we’ve been paying close attention for 18 of the festival’s 23 years — Country Thunder is hosting a special benefit concert in conjunction with the festival. Here’s the scoop: Cheap Trick frontman Robin Zander will play an intimate concert in the backstage VIP tent around 11:30 p.m. Saturday following Thomas Rhett’s Main Stage show. The cost is $250, which includes your Saturday admission and a chance to slip backstage and see the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member so close up you’ll feel like you’re in his living room. Tickets are limited and proceeds benefit the T.J. Martell Foundation, a music industry nonprofit that funds cancer and AIDS medical research.
- Not exactly ladies night: The 2017 lineup is a little short on the ladies. In fact, there are just three female acts over the four days, starting with veteran Canadian country star Terri Clark playing the 6:30 p.m. slot Thursday. Newcomers Runaway June, a trio with roots in California and Florida whose three-part harmonies will remind you of the Dixie Chicks, introduce themselves at 3:30 p.m. Friday. Three hours later, the last of the ladies, the pop-country duo of Maddie & Tae, are back on the Country Thunder Main Stage after debuting at the 2015 festival.
- Cheaper at ‘the corner of happy and healthy’:
- Stop into your neighborhood Walgreens for discounted Country Thunder tickets while they last.
