Big Barn Dance Music Festival kicks off Friday in Bryan

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – A Taos, New Mexico music festival has officially made its way to Bryan.

Michael Hearne’s Big Barn Dance Music Festival starts Friday in Bryan’s Midtown Park.

“We are so excited to welcome Big Barn Dance,” Destination Bryan’s Lina Adams said. “You have everything from music to dancing. It’s going to be a great time.”

Friday’s musical lineup starts at noon with the Bill Hearne Trio and continues with Shake Russell, the Kelley Mickwee Band, Radney Foster, Town Mountain, Hayes Carll, Shinyribs and Asleep at the Wheel.

The Aggie Wranglers will start festivities with dance lessons Saturday at 9 a.m.

Music starts at 11 a.m. with Soldier Songs w/ Dustin Welch. They’ll be followed by The Rifters, Michael Hearne and South by Southwest, Beat Root Revival, Lee Roy Parnell, Sister Sadie, The Aggie Wranglers, The Texas Playboys (directed by Jason Roberts), Rick Trevino and Gary P. Nunn.

The festival will conclude in downtown Bryan Sunday with the Big Barn Dance Songwriter Series. The Palace Theatre will host Tish Hinojosa, Susan Gibson and Larry Joe Taylor starting at 3 p.m.

In addition, Lisa Morales, Kyle Hutton and the Topo Chico Cowboys will be at The Grand Stafford Theater starting at 3 p.m.

The complete schedule can be found here.

Bryan Mayor Bobby Gutierrez said he’s excited for the city to host the event. He and a team traveled to Taos, New Mexico last year to experience the festival and said there’s nothing like it.

He hopes this becomes an annual event in the city.

“We look forward to hosting them for many years to come,” Gutierrez said. “We look forward to when ours is the 25th year and we have it here in Bryan. It’s a great thing for us.”

The founder, Michael Hearne, looked for Texas locations for about 10 years and said Bryan was a perfect fit. Along with Brazos Valley residents, several Taos attendees are expected to be in town, according to Hearne.

“We’re just so excited to be here,” Hearne said. “The weather’s clearing up a little bit and looks like we’re going to have a really nice weekend.”

Tickets are still available and can be purchased online and at the door.

Free shuttle services will be available Friday and Saturday. A shuttle will run every 15-30 from downtown Bryan’s Roy Kelly parking garage. For Stella Hotel guests, a shuttle will run every 30 minutes to and from the event site.

More shuttle and parking details can be found here.