Country Thunder is a music festival company that hosts several concerts in North America each year. They have operated festivals in Arizona since 1993, in Wisconsin since 1996, in Saskatchewan since 2005, in Alberta since 2016, and in Florida since 2019. Each festival offers entertainment on multiple stages. The main stage hosts national acts, with talent playing throughout the day. The side stage gives local artists opportunities to perform.

Florence, Arizona

Country Thunder Arizona is held on the Canyon Moon Ranch in

Florence, Arizona Florence ( O'odham: S-auppag) is a town in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. Florence, which is the county seat of Pinal County, is one of the oldest towns in that county and includes a National Historic District with over 25 buildings li ...

. The festival runs Thursday through Sunday, typically during the first week of April. Fans can purchase a single day pass or a weekend pass that allows them access to the festival for the entire weekend. The festival also offers reserved seating. Headliners in previous years have included

Morgan Wallen Morgan Cole Wallen (born May 13, 1993) is an American country pop singer from Sneedville, Tennessee. He competed in the The Voice (American season 6), sixth season of ''The Voice (American TV series), The Voice''. After being eliminated in the ...

Eric Church Kenneth Eric Church (born May 3, 1977) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has released seven studio albums through Capitol Nashville since 2005. His debut album, 2006's '' Sinners Like Me'', produced three singles on the ''Billb ...

, Chris Young,

Dierks Bentley Frederick Dierks Bentley (; born November 20, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Bentley moved to Nashville in the late 90s to pursue a career in music, leading up to his releasing the self-funded and independent album Do ...

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin (Blake Shelton song), Austin" from his Blake Shelton (album), self ...

Thomas Rhett Thomas Rhett Akins Jr. (born March 30, 1990) is an American country music, country singer-songwriter. He is the oldest son of singer Rhett Akins. Rhett has released seven studio albums for Big Machine Records' Valory Music imprint: ''It Goes ...

Jason Aldean Jason Aldine Williams (born February 28, 1977), known professionally as Jason Aldean, is an American country music singer. Since 2005, he has been signed to BBR Music Group, Broken Bow Records, a record label for which he has released eleven alb ...

Luke Bryan Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and television personality. Bryan is a five-time "Entertainer of the Year", being awarded by both the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Count ...

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (July 8, 1961 – February 5, 2024) was an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and businessman. Keith released his chart-topping debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", in 1993. During the 1990s ...

, and

Cole Swindell Colden Rainey Swindell (born June 30, 1983) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He has written singles for Craig Campbell (singer), Craig Campbell, Thomas Rhett, Scotty McCreery, and Luke Bryan, and has released four albums for W ...

Twin Lakes, Wisconsin

Country Thunder Wisconsin is held in

Twin Lakes, Wisconsin Twin Lakes is a village in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States, along the Illinois-Wisconsin border east of U.S. Highway 12, incorporated in 1937. With nearly 1000 acres of surface water, the twin lakes of Mary and Elizabeth have drawn vaca ...

. The event was awarded the "Festival of the Year" Academy of Country Music Award in 2015. The festival is typically run from Thursday through Sunday during the third weekend of July. In the past, performers like

Sam Hunt Sam Lowry Hunt (born December 8, 1984) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Born in Cedartown, Georgia, Hunt played American football, football in his high school and college years and once attempted to pursue a professional sport ...

, and

have appeared.

Craven, Saskatchewan

In 2005,

Troy Vollhoffer Troy Vollhoffer (born February 9, 1966) is an American entrepreneur living in Nashville, Tennessee. He was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. Hockey He played hockey from 1982 to 1992 with minor, junior, and professional teams. According to ''The Star ...

, owner of parent company Premier Global Productions, took over

Craven, Saskatchewan Craven ( 2016 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Longlaketon No. 219 and Census Division No. 6. The village lies north-east of the town of Lumsden in the Qu'Appelle Valley. I ...

's Rock 'N The Valley festival and relaunched it as the Craven Country Jamboree — returning the event to its previous roots as a country music festival. On October 27, 2016, it was announced that the event had been integrated into the Country Thunder brand as Country Thunder Saskatchewan.

Calgary, Alberta

In August 2016, Country Thunder launched Country Thunder Alberta in Calgary, Alberta, located in Prairie Winds Park. Previous headliners have included

Big & Rich Big & Rich is an American country music duo composed of Big Kenny and John Rich, both of whom are songwriters, vocalists, and guitarists. Before the duo's foundation, Rich was bass guitarist in the country band Lonestar, while Kenny was a sol ...

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

Brad Paisley Brad Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His first success came in 1997 as the writer of David Kersh's "Another You (David Kersh song), Another You". After this, he signed with ...

and

Kissimmee, Florida

In March 2019, Country Thunder launched the festival in Kissimmee, Florida, located in Osceola Heritage Park. Previous headliners have included

, and

Luke Combs Luke Albert Combs (born March 2, 1990) is an American country music, country singer. He was born in North Carolina and grew up there, performing as a child. After leaving college to pursue a career in music, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, Nas ...

Festival of the Year

Country Thunder Wisconsin 2015 and Country Thunder Arizona 2018 were named Festival of the Year by the

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller (songwriter), Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris ...

References

External links

*{{official website, https://www.countrythunder.com Country music festivals in the United States Annual events in the United States Music festivals in Arizona Music festivals in Wisconsin Tourist attractions in Pinal County, Arizona Tourist attractions in Kenosha County, Wisconsin Music festivals established in 1993 1993 establishments in the United States Music festivals staged internationally Country music festivals in Canada Annual events in Canada Music festivals in Alberta Music festivals in Saskatchewan 2006 establishments in Canada