Taste of Country music festival at Cooley Law School Stadium put on hold, may return
Eric LacyLANSING — Organizers of the annual Taste of Country music festival in downtown Lansing have decided to put the event on hold.
The festival won't happen this year because Cooley Law School Stadium is too booked with other events and organizers have struggled to find available quality acts, said Chris Tyler, WITL 100.7-FM's brand manager.
"We didn't want to put a concert on that would give you one great act and four not-so-great acts," Tyler said.
The festival celebrated it's fourth year in 2018. The first year sold out with Dierks Bentley, and the 2016 and 2017 festivals each drew about 10,000 people.
WITL, a Lansing-based country music station, will remain a sponsor for the country portion of Lansing's four-day Common Ground music festival in June.
Organizers would like to bring Taste of Country back to the stadium in 2020, Tyler said.
"Can I tell you definitely it's going to happen?," Tyler said. "Not right now. But that's something we're working toward. We would love to see it happen."
Stiff competition
An increase in this year's events held at the stadium made it difficult for Taste of Country organizers to find the best time this spring or summer to book a festival.
This year marks the first time the Lansing Lugnuts minor league baseball team will share the venue with Lansing Ignite, the city's first professional soccer team.
A pop music concert concert called "I Love the '90s" is also booked for the venue. It will take place June 7.
Another challenge for Taste of Country organizers was the annual CMA Fest in Nashville, Tennessee.
CMA draws most of the nation's best country acts at a time of year when previous Taste of Country festivals were held in Lansing, Tyler said.
"We found ourselves competing for the best acts we could possibly bring to Lansing against an established festival where hundreds of thousands of country fans go every year," Tyler said.
Tyler said the good news for local country fans is that Cole Swindell, a 2019 Common Ground headliner, was one of the five acts Taste of Country organizers wanted this year.
Common Ground news
Common Ground will take place June 27-30 at Adado Riverfront Park in downtown Lansing.
Swindell will headline June 29th's country-focused lineup at the festival.
The festival will also have nights dedicated to hip-hop, pop and rock music.
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The June 27 lineup was announced Friday morning and will be headlined by Brandi Carlile, a Grammy Award winner.
General admission single day tickets for the festival range in price from $39 to $89. Prices for four-day general admission passes range from $89 (general admission) to $240 (VIP).
For information, visit commongroundfest.com.
A lineup for the PRIME Music Festival, to be held Sept. 20-21 at Lou Adado Riverfront Park, is expected to be made public by the end of this month.
The Common Ground lineup:
Thursday, June 27
- Brandi Carlile
- City and Colour
- Robert Randolph and The Family Band
- Arlo McKinley and the Lonesome Sound
- Mike Mains and The Branches
- Motherfolk
Friday, June 28
- Zedd
- Playboi Carti
- DJ Elephante
- Yung Gravy
- Carlie Hanson
Saturday, June 29
- Cole Swindell
- Chris Janson
- Tracy Lawrence
- Clare Dunn
- Eric Chesser
- Rachel Curtis
- The Swift Brothers
Sunday, June 30
- YG
- Boogie Wit da Hoodie
- Big Boi
- Trap Manny
- 2 Live Crew
Eric Lacy is a reporter for the Lansing State Journal. Contact him at 517-377-1206 or elacy@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricLacy.
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