Pulling out some heavy hitters for their inaugural year.
If you thought it was harder now than ever before to keep up with country festivals around the country, you would be correct. With new festivals seemingly popping up each and every week and other high-profile events shutting down, it’s been a wild last few years to say the least. In turn, you might not know exactly where you want to book your next weekend of music.
Of course, you still have your mainstay events every year, such as California’s Stagecoach, Texas’ Two Step Inn and the nationwide Country Thunder series, all of which are returning in 2026 along with some killer lineups. Though these festivals are downright stacked, it seems as if, for the most part, there’s a lack of truly great country music events in the Midwest outside of the likes of Chicago’s Windy City Smokeout, Bloomington, Illinois’ Country Thunder and St. Paul’s brand-new Minnesota Country Club Festival, which is debuting this summer.
Indiana, however, is stepping up their game big time this year.
Just announced this morning, the inaugural “Boots On The Bend” festival is making its grand debut in South Bend with an absolutely stacked lineup headlined by none other than 11x Grammy nominee, the Chief himself, Eric Church, along with the red-hot HARDY and Christian superstar, Brandon Lake.
In case you thought the “Springsteen” singer, who is undoubtedly one of the best entertainers in music right now, wasn’t enough, BOTB is bringing along some killer supporting acts, including one of the best bands in country music, Flatland Cavalry, the always-stellar Ashley McBryde, the severely underrated Joe Stamm Band and the rising country-folk group, The Jack Wharff Band. Additionally, Chase Rice, Emily Ann Roberts, Eddie And The Getaway, McCoy Moore, Maddie Font, Will Moseley and Graham Barham are all set to perform.
Boots On The Bend will take place on Friday, August 14th, and Saturday, August 15th, in South Bend, Indiana, at St. Joseph County Fairgrounds, which is located just 20 minutes from the historic Notre Dame College campus.
In addition to general admission, which starts at only $99.99 for both days, BOTB will be offering a plethora of different ticket packages for purchase throughout the weekend, including VIP, Super VIP, hotel packages and camping/RV passes.
VIP, which starts at $344.99, includes a dedicated VIP Pit in front of the stage, private bars and restrooms for shorter lines and a dedicated lane at the venue’s entrance. On the other hand, Super VIP, which starts at $653.99, includes everything in VIP as well as an elevated viewing structure for the best sights above the crowd, community lounge seating and space, complimentary non-alcoholic drinks, dedicated barricade access and a commemorative festival laminate.
Early bird presale tickets, which will be the lowest prices available, for all tiers of passes begin this Wednesday, March 11th, at 10:00 a.m. EST and end on Friday, March 13th, 11:59 p.m. EST. General sale, which will be open to the public, will begin on Friday, March 13th at 10:00 a.m. EST.
As an Indiana resident myself, I’ll admit that there aren’t too many festivals in the area worth spending money on. With that being said, however, Boots On The Bend is absolutely an event that should have your attention if you’re anywhere in the surrounding area. In many ways, Eric Church himself is worth the price of the festival’s admission. Once you throw in the likes of Flatland Cavalry, Ashley McBryde, Joe Stamm Band and more, you have yourself one of the best deals of the summer as far as festivals are concerned.
