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HERALD STAFF WRITER
 Sugarland |
The music and fun kicks off this evening at 6:30, with the last Friday’s In the Park events at Centennial Park in Roanoke Rapids. This show features The Ginger Thompson Band, which plays a variety of big band and dance music.
Sugarland headlines a huge evening concert event at the Carolina Crossroads Outdoor Amphitheater on Saturday, the four-day Dream Acres Music Festival features an eclectic selection of 17 bands and individual performers from all around the Southeast, “Arsenic and Old Lace” finishes it’s run at Lakeland, “Big Smiles On Little Faces” will be performed twice at The Centre at Halifax Community College and the sixth annual Cotton Festival in Hobgood will take place Saturday.
As bad as our economy is right now, why would anyone want to leave the Valley with all that is going on right here? In fact, the Hilton Garden Inn and several other local hotels report they are sold out, so it seems many folks from distant places are planning on spending their weekend here in the Valley, too.
The top draw of the weekend has to be the Sugarland and Kellie Pickler show at Carolina Crossroads. Both artists are multi-time CMA award nominees, with Sugarland having been nominated for CMA Artist of the Year Award.
Carolina Crossroads Entertainment Director Elizabeth Branham said ticket sales have been phenomenal. “We’ve had calls from Richmond, Raleigh, Fayetteville; Pretty much all around,” she said Thursday afternoon.
Workers were busily setting up everything from chairs and vendor stands to portable toilets and crowd control devices all day Thursday, still anticipating the huge job of setting up the unique Sugarland stage on Friday.
“There will be a giant video wall behind the stage for this show. That’s something we’ve never done here before. This show is going to require a lot of stage work that we’ve never seen here before, so we’re really excited.” Branham said.
The Crossroads gates open at 4:30 p.m. and The Zac Brown Band takes the stage at 6, followed by Ashton Shepherd at 7 and Kellie Pickler at 8. The Sugarland show is scheduled to begin at 9.
On the other side of Roanoke Rapids, in Pleasant Hill, the Dream Acres Music Festival, which actually started on Thursday, will really be cranking up as weekend folks start arriving Friday evening.
Ann Meadows, one of the founders of the festival echoed Branham’s excitement. “We’re getting calls from all over the place and ticket sales have been really good.” Meadows was so busy Thursday evening she only had time for a brief update on performers, vendors and craft artists, which is available at their Website, www.dreamacresmusicfestival.com.
The eclectic variety of music featured at the festival pretty much runs the gamut of genres. There will be 17 different bands and individual performers playing throughout the weekend on two different stages, and the Woodstock-like festival atmosphere encourages folks to pitch a tent and spend the whole weekend there.
For those more theatrically inclined, “Arsenic and Old Lace” finishes up a very successful run at The Lakeland Theater Company in Littleton on both Friday and Saturday nights. The well-known and loved play directed by Bill O’Neal features many of Lakeland’s best performers and should have Littleton buzzing with activity. Even dinner and theater tickets are available for the Friday night performance.
The Centre at Halifax Community College will also present a theatrical performance this weekend, with “Big Smiles on Little Faces 2008”. There are two performances scheduled for Saturday, one begins at noon and the other starts at 4 p.m. This children’s variety show features the famous Amran Shrine Clowns, magicians and a ventriloquist.
For those that just want to leisurely stroll through a small town fall festival, Hobgood is having its sixth annual Cotton Festival on Saturday, which will feature everything from Civil War re-enactments and live music performances to arts and crafts and food vendors of all kinds. The festival runs from 10 a.m. through 6 p.m. on Saturday.
There will be two firsts when the River City Extrication Challenge comes to Roanoke Rapids this weekend. It’s the first Transportation Emergency Rescue Committee competition held in the state and the first time Rheasville Volunteer Fire Department’s new team competes.
The event will be held in the Belk parking lot across from Collier Harely-Davidson, which will host a Fire and Rescue Appreciation Day.
The event, which features six teams from up and down the East Coast, begins Saturday at 8 a.m., and will run through 5 p.m. On Sunday, it begins at 8 a.m. and lasts through 1 p.m.
With all that is going on in the Valley this weekend, no one can say, “There’s nothing to do here!” This is one weekend most folks in the Valley should be hosting guests from all around the area, getting away from the TV and all of the political attack ads and enjoying great entertainment available.
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