County Lassos Music Festival

3-day Western Event May Draw Thousands to Kearney Park

By Jim Davis
The Fresno Bee
(Published Saturday, June 21, 2003, 4:55 AM)

A country music festival that the promoter says could draw 15,000 to 25,000 people a day will be allowed in Kearney Park under a conditional agreement given by Fresno County supervisors.
The three-day festival is planned for the next Memorial Day weekend, promoter Kurt Wilson said.

Supervisors told their staff to draw up a rental agreement to ensure necessary security and to protect the park from being damaged.

But supervisors were excited, saying the May event dovetails with their efforts to boost tourism.

"I'm not a big country western fan, but I'll be there," Supervisor Bob Waterston said. "I'll get a hat and everything."

Although nothing is booked yet, Wilson said he hopes to bring big-name stars, such as Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris and Brooks & Dunn, and seven or eight national acts a day.

The festival could include other events, such as a NASCAR auto-racing display and autograph tent, nightly fireworks shows and an attempt to break the world record for the largest line dance. (The current record is 6,275 people, set in Tamworth, Australia.)

Wilson said his company, Largo Vista Entertainment in Santa Clarita, has spent about 1-1/2 years bringing a country festival to California.

Wilson was involved in another country festival in the mid-1980s in Los Angeles, but he said the country music didn't mesh well in such a large city. Fresno County provides a more rural setting in the middle of California and represents the strongest country music demographic "in the state, if not on the West Coast."

Wilson said he liked Kearney Park when he saw it, saying it's accessible from the freeway to concertgoers and is within eight miles of downtown Fresno.

But he also said it's still in the country, giving it a rustic flavor. The park also is well-maintained, heavily shaded and, at 250 acres, large enough to handle the festival.

The festival would open at 10 a.m. Saturday through Monday on the holiday weekend, and the music would begin by noon. The music would end about 11 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and about 8 p.m. Monday.

Ticket prices will vary from about $40 for an adult for a single day to $90 for a three-day ticket. Reserved and VIP seating also will be available for higher ticket costs.

Wilson plans to have a main stage for the national acts but also would like to have a smaller stage in the food and beverage area to give local country music acts a chance to perform.

The festival will sell beer and wine, but Wilson said he wants the event to be family-oriented.

Largo Vista Entertainment will contract with the Fresno City and County Historical Society to provide logistics, such as parking. The historical society runs the Kearney Mansion, handles the Civil War re-enactment each year and will be involved with the Rock N' Rod Revival, which will move from the Coombs Ranch to Kearney Park this August.

Largo Vista also will hire about 120 Marines from the Twenty-nine Palms Marine Corps center, who work on the weekends to provide security for major venues in California for charity.

Supervisor Phil Larson, whose district covers Kearney Park, said he believes the festival will provide entertainment for county residents and also draw thousands of out-of-towners.

"I think it will be a great venue," Larson said. "What's also great about it is they're not looking at it as a one-year shot -- they're looking at it for year after year."

The reporter can be reached at jmdavis@fresnobee.com or 441-6171.