LITTLEFIELD, TEXAS - The Flatland Music & Arts Festival is back in a big way, bringing four days of live Tex-Mes and country music, art, and familyfriendly fun to Littlefield, Texas. Best of all? Admission is now completely free for everyone!
“With us coming out of it last year, it was already hard enough when this got placed in my lap after COVID-19,” Cory Yesel, Flatland Music & Arts Festival President said. “A lot of those members were done; you get a 10-year run on a volunteer thing and you’re done with it.”
He added, “This year we wanted to do something different, so along with moving everything downtown, we focused on making this a sponsor-driven festival. So, we decided to quit selling tickets and make it a free event. You can buy a cooler pass. It’s been a wonderful year leading up to this year’s event, the City has gotten behind us, we’ve got a stage built, we have a guy down there fixing the pillars in the front and we won’t get it done this year, but next year we will have all the walls finished and we can start putting some artwork up and commemorating artists.”
Yesel talked about what their plan is moving forward with the festival, saying, “We’re taking this from where its been for 10-12 years. It started with the Centennial celebration and wanting to bring something big to commemorate the 100-year anniversary and it just kind of went through that. When COVID-19 hit, it kicked our butt and it started to make that celebration a daunting task that was really burning everyone who was involved out.”
He added, “We wanted to do something to reel it back in to bring the community vibe and the community feel back into things. We had started doing the free night on Friday nights, downtown at the stage in the Pocket Park to test the waters and it worked. There was 200-300 people there, it was a fre deal, nothing really big for us, just a band and maybe a food truck.”
On October 1st, Faith Night with First Baptist Church will kick off at 6 p.m.; followed by Thursday Night’s Ex-Student Association Parade and bonfire at 7 p.m.; and on October 3rd Primetime Barbershop’s will host a 5th Quarter Movie Night. Finally, on October 4th headliners, Carson Jeffery and La Reunion Norteña, will be joined by artists Lane Coffman & The Outliers, Sal & The Stonewall Hippies, Grace Hamm, Grayson Lee, and Gage Burning, who are all set to captivate the audience with their incredible performances.
“Our plan is to bring in a four-day festival and tie it in with homecoming,” Yesel said. “We wanted to get away from the hotter days in July. Wednesday night, Oct. 1st, to kick things off, we will have a worship night in the Pocket Park. First Baptist Church is going to host it this year, Brent and his worship team are going to come down and set up, I think Tanner is going to give a message. We just want to bring some community involvement and really just try and show people that the park is new, the stage is there to be used and the more we use it, then maybe down the road we could get into some grant money down the road. You have to have so many events per year to get those types of things. Thursday night, we’re not going to have a whole lot, because the Ex-Students Association will host their parade down Phelps and the Bonfire. Friday night, the game will go on as planned and the Chicken Fry, but afterwards Primetime Barbershop is going to host a movie night and main street cruise in the park. We’re going to put a big screen on the stage, maybe we’ll have a vendor or two. He’s also talking to his church about potentially having a 5th quarter type of thing.”
He added, “On Saturday, we tried to get a color run together, but it didn’t really materialize. So, we’re going to start from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. the 400 block to the 500 block of Phelps Ave. will be taken up. The Library will have a petting zoo, first responders will be set up, they’ll give tours of the fire house and let kids climb on the ladders. There will be a huge vendor market put on by the Prickly Sisters, there will be a kids fun zone with obstacle courses and bounce houses at one end. We’re also going to try and do a little tailgate area, because I know its Saturday, there is college football going on. On the stage from 12 p.m.- 4 p.m. Lane Coffman – who has helped a lot collaborate on this thing. He had a local artist showcase last year, that was sponsored by Hillcrest Funeral Home, so he’s going to have that again during that time. We will shutdown from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. and let ourselves reset and bring everything into the 500 block, so that when the gates open at 5 p.m. that is where the concert will be from 5 p.m. to close to Midnight.”
Alongside a lineup of talented artists, there will be a range of exciting activities such as food trucks, Kids FUN Zones, a Car Show, and merchandise.
“Lane Coffman will open up for us, and then we have Carson Jeffery, who is a great up and coming Texas guy,” he said. “He has a Cowboy/Ranch Country style of sound, which I think will go great across the board for people who like that genre. We also have La Reunion Nortena, which was a really, really big band for us to get this year. That was something going into this year that we understood, that our band scale was going to be a little smaller. They usually book for several thousand dollars and they gave us a really great deal because of this being a free event.”
There will also be a Hot Pepper eating contest with limited spots available. Enter at your own risk for a chance to win $200 cash price. You must be 18+ to enter. You can sign up for the contest at the festival on Saturday.
Tickets are a thing of the past, this year’s festival is completely free and open to everyone!
To ensure a safe and secure environment, the Flatland Music & Arts Festival enforces a few important policies. Attendees may bring their own beverages with a valid cooler pass, but coolers must be no larger than 26” x 16” x 16” and cannot contain glass or hard liquor. A clear bag policy is also in place, with permitted bags not exceeding 12” x 6” x 12”. One folding lawn chair per guest is allowed.
We appreciate your participation to help maintain a safe environment for all attendees.
The Flatland Music & Arts Festival would like to express its heartfelt gratitude to Food King Cost Plus Food, the proud Title Sponsor of this unforgettable event. Their generous support has helped bring this celebration of music, arts, and community to life.
“Food King is our title sponsor and we couldn’t do this without those guys. Every year since we’ve started this, they have been the biggest donor and the biggest name out there. Martin Ag is another big sponsor along with Hillcrest Funeral Home, Premier of Littlefield, Cre8ive, All-Ways Towing, Lamb County Electric Co-Op, MTC Management & Training Corporation, Wellington State Bank, Primetime Barbershop, Xcel Energy and First Federal Bank of Littlefield.”
For media inquiries, please contact: Cory Yesel, President Flatland Music & Arts Festival, at flatlandmusicinfo@gmail.com.
Join us in Littlefield this October for a memorable celebration of music, arts, community, and culture at Flatland Music & Arts Festival.
“This year, rather then us try to depend on ticket sales, this is a 100% free event,” Yesel said. “Everything that the sponsors are doing, that is what is funding all of this. We’ve never done that before, but this is our goal moving forward is to be volunteer run and sponsor driven.”
For the latest updates, artist announcements, and event information, visit flatlandmusicfest.com.