Red, White, and Boom 2016 | Kentucky’s Largest Country Music Festival

Due to Hurricane Hermine, Florida Georgia Line and Cole Swindell were supposed to be in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday night. However, the tropical storm caused their shows to be canceled, so they went ahead and drove into Lexington. During Thomas Rhett’s performance, he surprised everyone by bringing Florida Georgia Line on stage and singing their song, ‘Round Here,’ which he had written. Then a few minutes later, he surprised everyone again by bringing Cole Swindell on stage. Swindell then began singing Thomas Rhett’s song, ‘Get Me Some of That,’ which he had written for him.

The biggest audience of the weekend came to see the country duo Florida Georgia Line on Saturday night, bearing 90-degree weather and close crowds. They was approximately over 16,000 people in attendance. I heard one report of 60,000 people, but I’m not sure which one is accurate.

Florida Georgia Line is one of country music’s biggest names. I’m sure everyone knows and has heard of FGL. Their songs have to do with partying, Fireball, whiskey, summer, and trucks. They are all catchy and infectious, and you can’t help but have a good time, when you hear one of their songs. They sang all of their biggest hits; ‘H.O.L.Y.,’ ‘Confession,’ ‘Dirt,’ ‘Anything Goes,’ and much more. FGL’s tour right now is called “Dig Your Roots.’ After performing a couple of songs, the duo shared baby pictures, pictures with their mothers, and pictures of them when they were learning to play guitar. Each picture led to a throwback song, which they essentially covered. The songs included: Nelly’s ‘Ride With Me,’ Montell Jordan’s ‘This Is How We Do It,’ House of Pain’s ‘Jump Around,’ and Backstreet Boys’ ‘Backstreet’s Back.’ It was a fun mash-up of songs that everyone knows. Of course, they had to end the night with probably their most well-known song of all, ‘Cruise.’

Just about every artist sang music off their new yet-to-be released albums, so we were among the first to hear their new tunes, which I think was pretty cool. They are already starting to plan the acts for next year (obviously, since you have to book the acts really far in advance in order to have them perform). There are already radio commercials stating that it is going to be bigger than ever! I can’t wait to go next year, and next year, we plan on getting VIP passes (special VIP section + all you can eat and drink). If you aren’t VIP, then you are general admission. You could stand anywhere you want; right at the front of the stage (if you get there first), in the stands, or back in the field on a blanket. The majority of people gathered around the stage standing in close proximity to each other. We got lucky both nights we went, and were relatively close to the stage. There were people everyone, and as the night got on, it got more and more crowded. So, if you want to go, you may not want to leave your spot, or else you might not be able to make it back through the crowd. I would suggest using the buddy system to push your way through the crowd (Luckily, when we left our spot, we were able to make it back just fine. However, I would do it at your own discretion hahaha. We were on a mission, and we WERE going to make it back to where we were).

Red, White, and Boom was initially a free show, which then grew to a mini-festival with minimal admission. Now, in 2016, it was $64.50 (single-day admission), $179 (three-day admission), and $358 (three-day VIP pass). If you love country music, this is one festival that you don’t want to miss. It’s not just everyday that you can see that many big names for such an affordable price. You have to remember that four acts perform on each night, and twelve acts perform over the entire weekend. You just can’t beat it!