Exton >> Citadel Federal Credit Union has announced that it is the title sponsor a new, three-day country music festival coming to Chester County in August.
Citadel County Spirit USA will be held at Ludwig’s Corner, a 33-acre site off Route 100 in Glenmoore, Aug. 24 to Aug. 26, 2018.
More than 20 country music artists will appear on two stages, including three top headliners. The lineup of featured entertainers will be announced in March.
“Citadel is proud to be the title sponsor of what will be an incredible event for our community,” Jeff March, president and CEO, Citadel said in a press release. “To be involved in an extraordinary celebration that will increase awareness of our local area and drive thousands to explore what it offers is a privilege for Citadel.”
As title sponsor, Citadel will be involved in some of the planning and promotion for the event, according to Abigail Brooks, corporate communications manager for Citadel.
“As an organization, Citadel has been involved in the local community for more than 80 years. This region is where our customers and employees live and work, our roots here are strong. When we heard this event was coming to the Brandywine Valley, we wanted to be involved somehow,” Brooks added.
A portion of each ticket sold for Citadel County Spirit USA will be donated to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, according to Brooks. CHOP was also the beneficiary of Citadel Palooza, a benefit concert held in Pottstown in October.
“It was important to Citadel to honor Citadel Palooza’s legacy and the success we had with that concert in October. Citadel Country Spirit USA will be a similar event on a larger scale; it will celebrate country music and our local community, drawing fans from various parts of the Greater Philadelphia region and even beyond,” Brooks added.
Citadel Country Spirit USA is being hosted the Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau. Thousands of people from across the country are expected to attend the event. The Ludwig’s Corner venue has a capacity of 15,000 daily.
“Hosting signature events – specifically a new, landmark music festival – is one of our core strategies to increase visitation,” Susan Hamley, executive director, Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau said in the release. “We want to entice people to come here for the first time and encourage them to come back time and time again to experience all that Chester County has to offer.”
Hamley said Wednesday her excitement about the event is, “off the charts. When a sponsor with the credibility of Citadel comes on board, it’s exciting.”
Citadel Country Spirit USA is being produced by Impact Entertainment, which also produces Country Summer, a country music festival in Northern California. That event will mark its fifth annual event in June.
“It’s an honor to welcome Citadel as our title sponsor and exclusive financial institution partner,” Alan Jacoby, executive producer, Impact Entertainment said in the release. “Citadel has a renowned 80-year history and a genuine commitment to the community – an ideal partner for expanding our country music portfolio to the East Coast.”
The event in Chester County has been in the works for about two-years.
Hamley, who worked with Jacoby previously on a partnership with his Legends Golf Classic nationally televised on ESPN, took notice of Country Summer’s success in Santa Rosa, Calif., and contacted him in 2015 with an idea to create a similar sister country music festival.
“We can be approached by producers all the time, but unless they represent the county in the right way – we pass. Alan gets what we’re trying to accomplish,” Hamley added.
“It takes an enormous, collaborative effort to develop a festival of this size and magnitude,” Jacoby said in the release. “More than two years in the making, the Mid-Atlantic region’s foremost country music festival becomes a reality this summer.”
Chester County was chosen because of its setting and its proximity to Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York City. Several other municipalities were also approached as possible venues. <URL destination=”http://http://www.dailylocal.com/article/DL/20171026/NEWS/171029827″>The Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show Association agreed in October to host the event.
</URL>Hamley said the Conference and Visitors Bureau is already planning its advertising around the event.
“We’ll be pushing out lodging packages and information about what there is to do in the area,” she said. “It’s another way to tell the story – to have an incredible event experience that showcases Chester County and encourages people to return.”
According to data compiled for the Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau, 52 percent of festival attendees come from outside the county, representing a boon to the local tourism industry. It’s anticipated that hotels within a 20-mile radius will sell out for the weekend and that local businesses will experience 20 to 30 percent increased sales in the days before, during and after the festival.
“There’s no way we couldn’t sell out in that corridor,” Hamley added. “We do believe we will also sell out beyond the 20-mile radius. It is a big enough event and a big enough draw.”
Hamley said there are more than 3,500 hotel rooms in the Exton/Great Valley corridor.
“I do think other areas of the county will be impacted – accounting for almost 800 more rooms – and part of that will be driven by lodging/ticket packages we push out-of-market.” She added that she has heard from some local residents that they also plan to stay closer to the venue, “which would push some visitors further throughout the county.”
Impact Entertainment plans to hire a local labor force and rent or contract locally for a variety of goods and services, from sound and lights to security for the event.
Headliners will be announced in March, and ticket sales will begin shortly after. Because tickets are expected to sell quickly, those interested in the event are encouraged to sign up to receive event and ticket updates at www.countryspiritusa.com.
Additional sponsors of the event include: Barefoot Wine; Proximo Spirits Inc., known for importing and distributing Jose Cuervo tequila; and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Digital First Media writer Fran Maye contributed to this story
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