Red, White & Boom’s 2016 growth spurt: Three days of country music

This is what you call a growth spurt. Born on the Fourth of July holiday in 2004, Red, White & Boom has ballooned from one to two to three days.

Its name hasn’t changed after 12 years, but almost everything else about Red, White and Boom has.

Instead of happening on the Fourth, the annual WBUL-FM 98.1-sponsored country music summit is on Labor Day weekend. Instead of its inaugural single-evening format and eventual two-day maturation, the festival will run three nights. Most of all, in lieu of a roster devoted exclusively to acts either on a hopeful rise or a graceful descent in their careers, the festival comes to us this year with three mega-popular headline artists: Eric Church, Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line. It’s now Lexington’s biggest music festival. That’s enough to give Red, White and Boom some renewed thunder.

“When we saw these acts were available, it was like, ‘OK, let’s try it,’” said Michael Jordan, regional senior vice president of iHeartMedia and one of the principal organizers of Red, White and Boom. “We don’t know what the market will support until we try it. As we went through this process, we’ve learned a lot about the market. We’ve learned what it wants and we’ve had to adjust the business plan as we went. As any music festival does, we’re trying to make sure everyone has a good time and that everything is safe. But at the same time, it is a business.”

Part of staging a festival with popular and bankable artists means a rise in costs. So with the growth of the event came a leap in ticket prices. Initially a free show (especially during its pre-Red, White and Boom years at the Cox Street parking lot for the Fourth) and then a mini-festival with a minimal admission, Red, White and Boom was introduced this year with a full three-day ticket price of $179 when sales began last winter. Single-day tickets at $64.50 didn’t go on sale until June.

“We’ve had some people upset about the ticket prices,” Jordan said. “Looking back, we could have probably put single-day tickets on sale a little earlier, because I think the three-day ticket thing was a little bit of a sticker shock for folks. But if you take a look at a lot of the shows that come into Rupp Arena and divide the ticket price by three days, you’re equaling the same amount of money. But that was something we had to adjust to. It’s a learning process.”

For Jordan, though, the success of Red, White and Boom is quite personal:P He has been involved with its production since the event was overhauled and renamed in 2013.

“Red, White and Boom is, in a lot of ways, my baby. I love the fact that we’re able to bring something like this to Lexington and Central Kentucky. It takes many people to pull this thing off, so it’s bittersweet every year when it comes to an end. There is a lot of work, a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of long days. But when it comes to an end, there is a moment of sadness. Then you start planning for next year.”

This story was originally published September 1, 2016 at 9:52 AM with the headline "Red, White & Boom’s 2016 growth spurt: Three days of country music."