Another major country music fest coming to Delaware

 Miranda Lambert, left, and Carrie Underwood perform during the CMA Fest at LP Field on Friday, June 6, 2014, in Nashville. Both will perform at the Big Barrel Festival in Dover. (Photo by [Wade Payne/Invision/AP)

Miranda Lambert, left, and Carrie Underwood perform during the CMA Fest at LP Field on Friday, June 6, 2014, in Nashville. Both will perform at the Big Barrel Festival in Dover. (Photo by [Wade Payne/Invision/AP)

The creators of Firefly revealed plans for the state’s second major country music festival, featuring top artists like Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, and Miranda Lambert.

It’s going to be a busy summer for music in Delaware.

The latest addition to what’s becoming a stocked calendar of festivals is the Big Barrel Country Music Festival. Big Barrel will be held June 26-28 at the Woodlands on the property of Dover International Speedway. That’s the same location as the wildly successful Firefly Festival.

“We’ll leverage the Firefly foundation and our collective backgrounds bringing preeminent music festivals to life to establish Big Barrel as the benchmark for country music experiences this side of the Mississippi,” said Greg Bostrom, director of Firefly and Big Barrel. “Firefly, combined with its home at The Woodlands of Dover International Speedway, has established the East Coast’s standard when it comes to delivering a top-notch music festival.”

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Big Barrel’s line-up includes some artists on the outside of the traditional bounds of country music, including southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Big Barrel will be held the weekend after the four-day Firefly Festival. Last year, about 80,000 people attended Firefly. That translated to a $68 million boost to Delaware’s economy according to a study by the University of Delaware.

Tickets for all three days of music at Big Barrel go on sale Thursday and will cost $99. That’s half the price of the state’s other country music festival, the brand new Delaware Junction Festival. Delaware Junction will be held Aug. 14-16 at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington. Headlining acts for that festival include Toby Keith, Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line. Three day tickets for Delaware Junction go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. for $199.

The Delaware State Fair will also play host to a variety of national music acts from July 23 through Aug 1.

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