It will be the first time that the second NC Bourbon & Spirits Festival is held outside at Weldon Mills Theatre. It will also be one of the last chances to see The Steel Woods, who are on their goodbye tour.
The event is only for people aged 21 and up, and gates open at 2 p.m. on September 28. To get tickets, go to the theater’s website, said Julie Powell of BarnBurner Promotions, which is planning the event.
This was the Steel Woods’ last tour before the death of co-founder Jason “Rowdy” Cope in 2021. They said this in March. Powell said, “They called off their fall European tour.”
Powell said that plans for the festival are moving in the right way.
Allison Askew of BarnBurner said that there are 60 booths set up for the event. These include food trucks, North Carolina distilleries, and artists.
They will bring back the bull-riding simulator and the ax-throwing cage. Askew said that the Whiskey, Wood & Leather Beard Company, which will be one of the more unique vendors, will be giving free beard trimming.
Legacy Tobacco will have a cigar bar where people can smoke.
There will be 15 North Carolina breweries at the event, some of which are brand new.
The tiki bar from Cape Fear Distillery will be there. “That’s like a bus with two decks and an upper deck,” Askew said.
Powell said that a music stage is being brought in since the event is being moved outside. “We had planned to do that last year, but when we got this theater, we chose to hold it inside to show that we were getting ready for bigger and better things.”
Powell thinks that the same number of people will show up this year as they did last year, when between 3,000 and 5,000 people came. It’s likely that a lot of people who came last year will come again.
The music
When the gates open at 2 p.m., DJ Dank starts his job.
Sons of Earl and The Cove, two area bands, open the show.
Coming from West Virginia is the Davisson Brothers Band. Powell said, “People who haven’t seen them will love them.” “They have a lot of energy.”
I’m Frank Foster. Jones said, “He’s been around for a while.” He was born and raised in Louisiana and runs his own record label, booking service, and publishing business.
The Steel Woods. Powell said, “I saw The Steel Woods back in ’19.” She said, “I saw them twice in Nashville.” They’re different. I enjoy the way they sound. There’s nothing normal about this country music.
Powell said, “It’s exciting that we can at least bring them here so that people who love them or haven’t heard of them will get the chance.” She was sad that the band was going on its goodbye tour.
The draw
“What went well at last year’s event, Askew added, “More community events and something different.” Powell said, “I think this area needs stuff like this.”
Powell said that the event gives people the chance to visit several distilleries at once.
Powell said, “A lot of big influencers put it on TikTok last year.” “There’s one person who comes to almost every show lately and has about a million followers.” He’s always here.
This year, there is also someone coming who has a bourbon channel with more than 500,000 fans. “There are a lot of people out here who are several hours away and not close by.”
Last year, people from Georgia came to the event.
Askew said that this year there will be a table with goods for sale where people can get T-shirts for the event.
A VIP table for eight people will cost $1,000. VIP tickets cost $150. That lets people get into the VIP tent.
Askew said that this year the distilleries and the craft sellers will be spread out across the grounds. “Their attention will be on this field over here.”
There will be draws for different things.
Powell says to get tickets through the theater’s website. “Don’t go to strange sites,” she told him. “People buying tickets from outside sites have caused us a lot of trouble.”