Excitement is building on the Plains as Auburn's very own country music version of Bonnaroo is only six weeks away.
The Sticks Country Music Festival, which will feature an all-star cast of 15 of country music's biggest acts, will be held at Parker Hill April 17-18 in a cooler-friendly, campground atmosphere.
Former Auburn student David Adams is producing the two-day, two-night festival.
Adams, who has brought other popular events to Auburn such as the wrestling competition "In the Ring," said "Sticks", was recently named by Country Weekly magazine as one of the best concert values in America.
"It's $85 for 15 acts, so it's 6 bucks an act," Adams said. "You can't beat that."
The gates open at 8 a.m. on April 17. Beginning at 4:30 p.m., Whiskey Falls, Mark Chesnutt, Craig Morgan, Rodney Atkins and Gretchen Wilson will perform, respectively.
Performing April 18 are Adam Grant and Robert E., Shenandoah, Granger Smith, Chuck Wicks, Ashton Shepherd, Julianne Hough, Jason Michael Carroll, Diamond Rio, Sara Evans and Trace Atkins.
The country festival is named after 10-year-old Cullen "Stick" Senn of Beauregard, who Adams coaches on his baseball team, the East Alabama Storm.
"His dad is a buddy of mine," Adams said. "We were going to call it like the Chattahoochee Valley Country Music Festival or something stupid, and his dad was like, "Why don't you just call it Stick's Festival?"
Senn said he didn't know what to think about having the festival named after him.
"It's weird," Senn said. "I'm most excited to see Craig Morgan. He's going to go hunting with me and my dad."
Senn also said he was excited to meet Sara Evans' children, who will be attending the event with Evans and her husband, former Alabama quarterback Jay Barker.
Barker, who is scheduled to introduce Evans before her performance, recently called on Alabama fans to attend the festival and "own Auburn again."
"The idea is to bring out that Auburn versus Alabama energy," Adams said.
Adams said the event has been almost three years in the making.
"I wanted to do something really big, so back in May of 2006, I got online and started looking at different events," Adams said. "I noticed that country music festivals were pulling like 150,000 people. I took a map of the United States and put a red dot anywhere there was a country music festival that brought in 50,000 people or more and realized there was a big gap in the southeast."
Adams said he felt Auburn is a perfect location for a country music festival and Parker Hill is conveniently located 8 miles from campus and the downtown area.
"We have a marketable line-up, an incredible venue, and it couldn't be a nicer time of year in Auburn," said Peter Nasca, director of public relations.
Although attendees are not required to camp out, Adams did point out they can do so at no extra cost.
"Camping is included with the ticket," Adams said. "If you want a RV pass it's an additional $100. If people are quote 'too tired,' they can stay out there."
Adams said they plan to cut off ticket sales at 50,000.
"People have already bought tickets from 31 states," Adams said. "Isn't that crazy? People have bought in Nevada. People have even bought tickets in Belgium."
Nasca said students should buy tickets now because prices will be higher at the gate.
The $85 two-day event passes can be purchased for a limited time on www.stickcountry.com or by calling 888-512-7469. They may also be purchased at both J&M Bookstore and any local Piggly Wiggly beginning March 9.
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