ASHLAND —
A down economy might mean an upswing in attendance for Poage Landing Days, provided the sun is shining, said Philip Stewart, Poage Landing Days Committee president.
“If the weather’s good, I think we could probably see record crowds at Poage Landing Days this year,” Stewart said.
Ashland’s annual downtown festival will take place Sept. 17 through 19. The schedule for the festival was announced on Friday. This will be the festival’s 15th year.
Between 30,000 and 50,000 usually attend Poage Landing Days each year. This year, Stewart said the free entertainment as well as acts geared toward all age groups should bring in even higher numbers.
Free events are important in an economy where many people can’t afford to go on vacations or take part in more expensive entertainment options, he said.
Some free events include concerts on all three festival days, a car and motorcycle show from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 18, free inflatables all day on Sept. 17 and 18 and a children’s activity tent all three days.
Stewart said the committee has tried to create a concert lineup that appeals to as many as possible.
“Our level of entertainment has stepped up, stepped up, stepped up,” he said.
He pointed to the Poage Landing Days Sept. 18 lineup as an example of entertainment for all age groups
Those artists include Chelsea Field, Earl Thomas Conley, Mark Wills and “American Idol” runnerup Bo Bice. Field will begin the concerts on the main stage that day at 6 p.m. and Wills will end it, performing from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Field is an up and coming artist who will appeal to younger members of the audience while Conley will appeal to older audience members who remember him from multiple country hits in the 1980s, Stewart said.
Bice will add an edge to the festival, he said.
“He’s got a little bit more rocking edge to him than country performers we’ve had in the past,” Stewart said.
Concerts on Sept. 17 will start at 6 p.m. and feature several local artists including Bronson Bush and The Thrillbillys. Sept. 19 concerts will include Bluegrass artists Ronnie Bowman at 2:15 p.m. and Rhonda Vincent at 3:30 p.m.
Stewart said some can’t miss events of the festival include the Ed Haley Fiddle Fest, which will include an old time fiddle contest at 12:30 p.m., Sept. 18.
The fiddle festival starts at 10:30 a.m. and features an old-fashioned type of fiddle playing that Stewart called “part of the heritage of eastern Kentucky.”
Stewart also recommended the Poage Landing Days beauty pageant from 3 to 6 p.m. Sept. 18.
KATIE BRANDENBURG can be reached at kbrandenburg@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.
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