Beer kegs, Hanson, Jelly Roll & Cody Johnson. Q&A with Country Fest cofounder Aaron Green
After all, he cofounded the popular festival, an annual summertime tradition for thousands of country music fans who flock to Clay's Resort Jellystone Park in Lawrence Township for the multi-day event. The big party will be June 11-14.
Green overflows with stories about The Country Fest, which requires year-round planning from Green and cofounder Joel Beichler. The duo held the first one in 2010, and there's been no looking back.
This week's edition features country music veteran Dierks Bentley and newer stars Bailey Zimmerman and Zach Top. Several other artists will take the stage over the course of four days, including Hardy and Stark County native Karissa Ella.
Beer, music and good times: Who's playing The Country Fest in 2025? Headliners include favorite Dierks Bentley
The Canton Repository thought it would be fun to quiz Green on the country music extravaganza. And here's what he said on a range of topics, including his all-time favorite Country Fest concert, what music he listens to outside of country, and how many hours he puts in per day during Country Fest week:
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Magical. The idea is to just kind of escape the world and hang out with our little community for a few days. It's pretty cool.
We couldn't trademark Country Fest because there's so many of them in different states. We wanted the easiest way for people to find us on the web ... to drive business.
I'm like a Simple Plan, Good Charlotte, New Found Glory fan. I'm kind of a punk rock guy.
Food, music and more: Ultimate summer fun guide for Canton: Nearly 50 concerts, fests and events to enjoy
I was producing that concert (for Jayson Entertainment Group). That was my first Hanson show, so I produced it, and it was at a casino up in Michigan. They were great and they're very musically talented.
Our first year, we had the beer kind of at the top of the hill, and we needed to get another keg to the bottom of the hill, so a couple of guys were carrying the keg down the hill, and they dropped it, and it started rolling down the hill, and by the grace of God, nobody got taken out by a big, old keg.
No. We have three semi-trucks reloaded every day of beer and alcohol.
Hawaii, I think, but this year my sister is coming in and she's coming from Italy, where she lives with her husband who's in the military. As far as I know, she's going to win the furthest travel award.
I'd really like to have Jelly Roll. I think he's a good, cool dude and I kind of like how he carries himself, and I like what he's about.
For me, it was Cody Johnson last year. He really didn't have all the bells and whistles that everyone else did for a headliner. It was just him and a guitar and the band, and it blew my socks off.
We do get to enjoy the concerts around headliner time usually. Once the headliner is about ready to come on, that's when our job is done, that's when we got a day down and everybody is in (on the concert grounds).
Everything has gone according to plan that you've spent a year planning, and around 10 o'clock is usually that time when you get a sigh of relief and can enjoy the show for that hour and a half.
The worst is when you have to watch for the weather.
The peak time for daily traffic or commuter traffic is in that 4 to 6 p.m. window. If you come a little earlier, there's a lot less waits in line for things.
And I always tell my friends when they're coming for a couple days that when you go to buy your beer tickets, just buy a good chunk of them in advance ... so you don't have to make more transactions and don't have to go back and get in line.
Reach Ed at ebalint@gannett.com. Follow on X @ebalintREP and TikTok @edwardbalint.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Aaron Green talks The Country Fest
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