Forest City’s major summer concert attraction will not return next summer. Country Thunder Iowa made the difficult decision to shut down its concert event in Iowa citing a number of reasons. Forest City Mayor Ron Holland expressed disappointment about the change.
Area country music fans became more disappointed in what they termed as a lack of strong acts coming to the concert event. Others cited that move away from Memorial Day weekend when they could take time away from work, especially traveling long distances, to attend the concert.
Holland stated that Country Thunder owes Heritage Park where the concert venue was located, some rent money as a stipulation of the contract agreement.
Other Country Thunder sites across the country and into Canada remain operational for now. These will feature similar acts that have been in Forest City before. Meanwhile Holland is searching for an agency that operates these kinds of events to come to Forest City.
The closure of the event here in Forest City may also come as a disappointment to the artists involved. Many expressed their approval by mingling with the public at the Forest City golf course and area restaurants. Others liked the location of the concert due to its proximity to the Forest City Airport. Country Thunder Music Festivals Director of Corporate and Media Relations Gerry Krochak recently remarked that the campgrounds adjacent to the concert were topflight for outdoor concert venues.
The event got its start as the Tree Town Music Festival but was bought out by Country Thunder Music Festivals a few years ago. Country Thunder continues to operate in Kissimmee, Florida, Bristol, Tennessee, Calgary, Alberta, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Saskatchewan, and Florence, Arizona.
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