Country music’s Joe Nichols is headlining the main entertainment stage this year for the Great Texas Balloon Race that starts with balloon flyovers across the Longview sky on Tuesday, June 10, and culminates with weekend concerts, Texas-themed drone shows, and activities through Sunday morning, June 15 at the Longview Convention Complex.
Nichols takes the stage Saturday, June 14 with Sheila and the Caddo Kats opening. New Orleans band Bag Of Donuts , a “Superpop” party band, headlines Friday, June 13 with Untold Story opening.
Nichols has a sound that blurs the boundaries between country music’s past and present that has earned him more than two billion cumulative audio streams/views and a half-dozen No. 1 singles with 10 Top 10 hits. His songs like “Brokenheartsville,” “Size Matters,” “Gimme That Girl,” “Sunny and 75,” and “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off” have earned Nichols CMA and ACM awards and three Grammy nominations.
Sheila and the Caddo Kats showcases the vocals of Marshall native Sheila Clark Fox, two-time winner of Nashville’s Entertainer of the Year. The Kats draw on an acclaimed international rhythm section to present a performance that takes listeners back in time. The band’s third album “Country Soul Living in the City” won 2022’s Album of the Year at the World’s Largest Independent Awards Ceremony, the JMAs.
Guests get a taste of New Orleans on the night when Bag of Donuts brings its flamboyant performance combining showmanship, call-and-response audience participation, visual ingenuity, and pure entertainment to the stage. New Orleans named Bag of Donuts one of the most popular local acts, and they have several times been named Offbeat Magazine’s Cover Band of the Year.
Following the Bill Bussey Balloon Glow both Friday and Saturday nights, crowds are treated to a drone performance each featuring 350 drones creating a unique 3D show in the sky. One of the most talked-about features of last year’s event, the drone show will warm up crowds for the headlining entertainment each night.
The Great Texas Balloon Race is Friday, June 13, through Sunday, June 15. All ticketed events will be held at the Longview Convention Complex, 1123 Jaycee Drive. Gates open at 4 p.m. June 13-14 for the festival, which includes (weather permitting) special shape balloon inflations, RE/MAX skydiving team, vendors, KidsLand, tethered balloon rides, Bill Bussey Balloon Glows and more in addition to the live music and drone shows.
The Balloon Federation of America U.S. National Hot Air Balloon Championships kick off the action in the air with world-class pilots engaged in competition flights over Longview starting Tuesday, June 10.
Tickets are now on sale. Get more information about this year’s event on www.gtbr.net.
