Stage set for weekend Big Pine Festival

ALBANY — The stages are in place, vendors are moving their wares on site and the 40 musical artists are amped up and ready for this weekend’s first Big Pine Music Festival, which kicks off tonight at 6 at the Exchange Club Fairgrounds.

Organized primarily by 340 Creative Group, Big Pine will feature national artists like John Anderson, Shovels & Rope, Clarence Carter, Drake White & Big Fire and Chris Stapleton, as well as top regional acts like Saint Francis, Highway 55, the Bo Henry Band, Evan Barber & the Dead Gamblers, and Dusty Boots.

As they erected the main Big Pine Stage at the fairgrounds Wednesday evening, 340 principals Evan Barber and Justin Andrews cautiously admitted to optimism as the festival kickoff rapidly approached. In separate conversations, both said, “I feel a whole lot better about the festival now than I did at this time last week.”

Barber said advance ticket sales have picked up in the last few days before the festival.

“It seems the last couple of weeks that everyone’s talking about the festival,” the musician/businessman said. “Ticket sales have increased, and there seems to be a lot more excitement about what’s going on.”

Andrews said 19 vendors, each selling different — and unique — items, have signed on to be a part of the weekend’s activities.

“I really hope our community will come out and support the festival,” Barber said. “It’s going to be a great time. There will be a lot of great music, and for people who are not that into music, there will still be plenty to do. We’ve got jumpy houses for the kids, TVs all around the place, a mechanical bull, arts and crafts, and the Land Shark Port-a-Party by the Bud Light Stage.

“Everyone should plan to come on out and be a part of the festival. This is where all your friends are going to be this weekend.”

Music will continue tonight and into the early hours of Saturday morning and will kick off Saturday afternoon at 12:30. Highway 55, Drake White & Big Fire, John Anderson and the Bo Henry Band will play the Big Pine State Friday, while Saturday’s main stage will include performances by Pine Box Dwellers, UBL, Barber & the Gamblers, Carter, Stapleton, Shovels & Rope, and Funk You.