Thousands to pour into downtown for 2023 Peacemaker Festival on Friday and Saturday

Thousands of people will find a modern taste of country and rock 'n' roll music at what may be the biggest Peacemaker Festival for live music in the nine-year history of the shows, said co-founder Trent Goins of Fort Smith

Peacemaker Festival 2023 starts at 1 p.m. Friday at Riverfront Park, where two stages are set up this year, the main stage and the Dove Stage, Goins said.

The headliner Friday night is Shane Smith & The Saints. Marcus King, a rock 'n' roll act, is the Saturday night headliner.

Muscadine Bloodline and 49 Winchester, Tanner Usrey and J.R. Carroll are other acts making a splash at the festival near the Arkansas River in downtown Fort Smith.

Goins, who owns The Majestic music venue on Garrison, co-founded the music festival nine years ago. The idea was to bring live music downtown, and it has worked.

A lot of country, a little bit of rock 'n' roll: Here's the Peacemaker lineup

The musical acts at Peacemaker are primarily known as Americana in the genres of country or rock.

"This year we're bringing in a little bit of diversity," Goins said. "I would say it is red-dirt Americana, but Marcus King is definitely rock 'n' roll."

Shane Smith & The Saints will headline the show on the main stage Friday night.

Smith is a Terrell, Texas, native who moved to Austin. The band includes fiddle, guitar, bass and drums.

The Saturday headliner is Marcus King, a Greenville, South Carolina, native whose solo debut was "El Dorado."

Muscadine Bloodline is on the "Me on You" 2023 tour and has scored a recent video hit with "Teenage Dixie."

And 49 Winchester is going to tour in Europe with Luke Combs.

The lineup includes Tanner Usrey, J.R. Carroll, The Red Clay Strays, Slade Coulter, Joe Stamm Band, The Lowdown Drifters, The Weathered Souls, Taylor Hunnicutt, Palmer Anthony, Red Haughton, Meg McRee, Nolan Taylor, Maggie Antone and Calder Allen.

"We're really excited this year to bring our headliners Shane Smith & The Saints on Friday night and Marcus King on Saturday night," Goins said.

Shane Smith recently toured with Eric Church.

"Marcus King is a dynamic, Americana rock 'n' roll artist. To get both these artists to Fort Smith, we are really excited about," Goins said.

The Joe Stamm Band recorded a March EP in Fort Smith.

"We're excited to have Joe back down here," Goins said.

He said the festival is getting bigger and better each year.

To date, the festival has raised over $850,000 for children's charities. Volunteers run the nonprofit festival.

Music will play until about 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

Goins, a native of Fort Smith, talked about the importance of the festival to Fort Smith, being one of the biggest music festivals in the region.

"We created this festival kind of with two missions," Goins said. "One is to bring people to downtown Fort Smith to the beautiful Riverfront Park. Two is to raise money to donate to children's charities."

He said he expects up to 8,000 people in Fort Smith for the weekend.

Gates will open each day at 12:30 p.m. Tickets have been sold in 32 states and to people from Canada this year.

"So we've really figured out how to not only do this for the citizens of Fort Smith but how to make this a destination festival for folks who are just music lovers who want to get out and see their favorite act in a really nice venue," Goins said.

The Garrison Avenue bridge road construction has reduced lanes to downtown Fort Smith for construction, and the bridge will also be closed to foot traffic during the festival, Goins said.

Another sellout?

The Peacemaker Festival draws an estimated 4,500 people a day. It has sold out the last two years, Goins said.

Goins talked about the success of Peacemaker in Fort Smith.

"2023 is shaping up to be a great year for the Peacemaker Festival," Goins said Tuesday, the day the large Peacemaker banners were being unrolled to be set up at the stages.

The biggest addition to the 2023 festival is the second stage, he said. Music will start at 1 p.m. each day, Friday and Saturday.

"We've got more acts than ever this year," Goins said.

Shows will be on the second stage from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and the main stage for the evening shows, he said.

"We're really excited to extend the amount of artists we're bringing to Fort Smith this year," Goins said.

The main Riverfront Park stage is at 121 Riverfront Drive under the Garrison Avenue bridge. The second stage is nearby in the park. People will be able to turn their lawn chairs around to see both stages.

"We've got some great support acts this year with Muscadine Bloodline and 49 Winchester, those are two acts that are blowing up and selling out 2,000 to 3,000 seats all across the country. And then we've got Tanner Usrey who just this past weekend took the No. 1 spot on Texas radio from the Turnpike Troubadours with 'Give it Some Time.' And then we are really excited this year to bring J.R. Carroll," Goins said.

Ticket prices range from $79 to $1,800 and more information is at www.peacemakerfest.com.

Here is the full schedule:

Friday.

Dove Stage

1 p.m.: Reid Haughton

2 p.m.: Maggie Antone

3 p.m.: Nolan Taylor

4 p.m.: Weathered Souls

Peacemaker Stage

6 p.m.: Joe Stamm Band

7 p.m.: Red Clay Strays

8 p.m. :J.R. Carroll.

9 p.m.: Winchester 49.

11 p.m.: Shane Smith & The Saints.

Saturday

Dove Stage

1 p.m.: Meg McRee.

2:15 p.m.: Palmer Anthony.

3:30 p.m. Taylor Hunnicutt.

Peacemaker Stage

4:30 p.m.: Lowdown Drifters

5:40 p.m. Slade Coulter

6:55 p.m.: Tanner Usrey

8:20 p.m.: Muscadine Bloodline

10 p.m.: Marcus King

Dove Stage

11:30 p.m.: Calder Allen

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Peacemaker Festival 2023 is this weekend in downtown Fort Smith