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RFD-TV SPONSORS NEBRASKA BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL
October 17-19 in Lincoln, Nebraska
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA – The “RFD-TV” Nebraska Bluegrass Festival will enter its third year in October with a high-profile national sponsor, a star-studded lineup of touring bands and an 85,000-square-foot entertainment pavilion.
The festival is scheduled Oct. 17-19 at the Lancaster Event Center in Lincoln. The Grascals will lead three days of top bluegrass entertainment with two appearances on Saturday, Oct. 18.
Other headliners include the Rarely Herd, Cedar Hill, Charlie Sizemore, High Plains Tradition, Digger Davis & Tombstone, Toasted Ponies, Little Brown Jug, Audie Blaylock & Redline, Sharon Graeff & Heritage and Prairie Acre.
After two successful years as the Nebraska Bluegrass Festival, the premier Midlands event adds “RFD-TV” to its title to reflect the sponsorship of the nation’s No. 1 rural-oriented television network.
Promoter Donna Mentzer said the affiliation with RFD-TV would help spread the word about the Nebraska festival to bluegrass fans around the United States.
“I believe the festival will grow as RFD-TV has grown,” said Mentzer, who promotes the festival in Lincoln in October as well as the Country Bluegrass Festival in North Platte, Neb., in April.
The RFD-TV Nebraska Bluegrass Festival, Mentzer said, is benefiting from the Nebraska roots of Patrick Gottsch of Elkhorn, Neb., the founder and president of RFD-TV. Gottsch said the festival gave him an opportunity to be more involved in his home state.
Although RFD-TV has offices and studios in Nashville, Dallas, Chicago, St. Louis and New York City, Gottsch is a proud Nebraska native who maintains corporate offices in his hometown of Elkhorn.
The site of the festival in Lincoln is less than an hour’s drive from Gottsch’s boyhood home and the family farm where he grew up.
Gottsch said the whole idea of a bluegrass festival is consistent with the rural tradition that has brought RFD-TV from its launch in 2000 to a network that topped 30 million customers in 2007 and could reach 40 million in 2008.
The network built its viewership with rural programming, mostly on DISH and DirectTV satellite systems and rural cable companies. But 2007 and 2008 are breakout years for the network.
RFD-TV revived country’s most popular shows – Ralph Emery Live and Crook and Chase – and brought talk show superstar Don Imus back to broadcasting. The network also launched a digital channel – RFD HD.
Currently, RFD-TV is available on DIRECTV, DISH Network, Mediacom, Charter, Suddenlink, Bresnan, and Comcast systems located in all 50 states. In addition, RFD-TV is also available on over 600 independent cable systems.
The growth of the network means that viewers in both urban and rural settings nationwide will be exposed to advertising for the “RFD-TV Nebraska Bluegrass Festival.”
The festival will also benefit from exposure in RFD-TV The Magazine, an entertaining publication with articles, TV listings and 150,000 subscribers.
“We think this will mean bigger audiences, more exposure for our bands and a major boost for our festival,” Mentzer said.
RFD-TV also owns and operates RFD-TV The Theatre in Branson, Mo., once known as the Ray Stevens Theatre.
For the third year, the festival will be held at the Lancaster Event Center, a modern fairgrounds in Lincoln that is undergoing a $10 million expansion. This year, the festival is moving from the 11,000-square-foot Pavilion III to the 85,000-square-foot Pavilion I.
This main air-conditioned festival pavilion is a short walk to a campground with electric hookups.
Mentzer said details are available on the 2008 web page at www.nebraskabluegrassfestival.com .
The 2008 schedule: FRIDAY, OCT. 17
Digger Davis and Tombstone
Little Brown Jug
Toasted Ponies
Charlie Sizemore
The Rarely Herd
SATURDAY, OCT. 18
Digger Davis and Tombstone
Cedar Hill
Audie Blaylock and Redline
High Plains Tradition
The Grascals
SUNDAY MORNING GOSPEL, OCT. 19
Cedar Hill
Sharon Graeff and Heritage
High Plains Tradition
Audie Blaylock and Redline
SUNDAY AFTERNOON BLUEGRASS
Cedar Hill
Sharon Graeff and Heritage
High Plains Tradition
Prairie Acre
