Diamond Rio coming to HH for Watermelon Festival

By submitted, 05/8/19 12:41 PM

HOPE – Diamond Rio, the first country music group in history to reach number 1 with a debut single, will headline the 43rd Annual Hope Watermelon Festival on Saturday, August 10, at 8:30 p.m. Hometown boy, Wyatt Putman, will be the featured opening act. The concert will be held on the CMC Stage inside Hope Fair Park. Gates open at 6:00 p.m.

Diamond Rio signed to Arista Records in 1991 and with the release of “Meet In The Middle” became the first country music group in history to reach number 1 with a debut single. The band is also known for their hits “How Your Love Makes Me Feel,” “One More Day,” “Beautiful Mess,” “Unbelievable,” “In A Week or Two,” and more. They released their first-ever autobiography, Beautiful Mess: The Story of Diamond Rio on Thomas Nelson in 2009.

The band, known for playing every note on every album, recently celebrated their 25th Anniversary. They have sold more than 10 million albums, won a Grammy Award, a Dove Award, six Vocal Group of the Year wins (CMA and ACM), released two Greatest Hit albums, a live Christmas project, earned five multi-week number 1singles, 22 Top 10 singles, three certified Platinum albums, five gold albums, and released an autobiography – all with zero band member changes. Known for their charity commitments including long-time spokespersons for Big Brothers Big Sisters, the band has raised over $1,000,000.00 for non-profits and received the Minnie Pearl Humanitarian Award.

Tickets go on sale Thursday, June 6, with a special one-day “early bird” discounted ticket price of $12 for adults and $6 for children ages 4-10. Early bird tickets will be sold at the Hope-Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or online at hempsteadhall.com. Also on June 6, everyone who buys a ticket to see Confederate Railroad on Friday, June 7 at Hempstead Hall will receive one free general admission ticket to the Watermelon Festival Concert featuring Diamond Rio.

After this one-day sale, advanced tickets for the Diamond Rio concert will be $15 for adults; day of show tickets will be $20. Children’s tickets will be $6 on the day of the show. All reserved tickets are $40.

For more information about the concert, contact the Hope Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce at 870-777-3640 or the UAHT Foundation at 870-722-8516.