NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – Walker Hayes’ Fancy Like went viral on TikTok, and now the country star is set to be one of the headliners of the Atlantic Union Bank 2023 Patriotic Festival taking place May 26-28 at Scope Arena.
In addition to Hayes, the festival will feature Corey Kent, Sam Hunt, Jordan Davis, Cody Johnson and Randy Houser.
Single tickets and three-day weekend tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday for the shows, presented by Chevrolet and produced by Whisper Concerts. WAVY is the exclusive TV sponsor of the Patriotic Festival.
Tickets are for Reserved Seats or PIT Tickets and are available for purchase at the Scope Arena box office, Ticketmaster.com and PatrioticFestival.com.
The 2023 Patriotic Festival Country Weekend schedule is as follows. All shows are at Scope Arena.
- Friday, May 26 – Walker Hayes with special guest Corey Kent, 7 p.m
- Saturday, May 27 – Sam Hunt with special guest Jordan Davis, 7 p.m.
- Sunday, May 28 – Cody Johnson with special guest Randy Houser, 7 p.m.
Besides the concerts, Scope Arena Plaza and the upper concourse will feature corporate sponsors and military displays, exhibits and activities. Among those taking part include Monster Energy BMX tour, GruntStyle, Patriotic Apparel national mobile tour, Food Lion Farm Stand, U.S. Air Force, Marines and Navy mobile tours.
The Scope Arena Exhibition Hall will host patriotic corporate hospitality chalet sponsors Port of Virginia, Hoffman Beverage, Franklin Johnson and more.
The times for the military and corporate zone are as follows for the three-day event:
- Scope Arena Plaza: 3 to 6 p.m.
- Scope Arena Upper Concourse: 6 to 9 p.m.
Norfolk’s first Patriotic Festival saw $9 million economic impact
Last year, the Patriotic Festival made the high-profile move to downtown Norfolk following 18 years at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
An economic impact study conducted by Mangum Economics found the three day festival drew 30,000 people over three days and generated $9 million in economic activity in Norfolk, supporting $3 million in worker pay, and supporting 80 jobs.
The study found the city took in $354,000 in direct tax revenue.
The Patriotic Festival signed a five-year contract to hold its festival in downtown Norfolk.
Background on Patriotic Festival artists
Walker Hayes
Hayes will kick off the 19th annual Patriotic Festival weekend May 26. His 2021 album, Country Stuff The Album, features the new single, “AA” as well as “Fancy Like,” which topped all sales and streaming charts since its release, spending a collective six months and counting at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Country Songs chart, and hitting the top five on Billboard’s Hot 100 songs.
Corey Kent
Performing as a special guest with Hayes, Kent has been poised for a career in music, having been the lead singer for a touring Western Swing band at age 11 and hit early career milestones opening for legends Roy Clark and The Oak Ridge Boys.
In 2020, Kent released his From the West album, which got more than 3.5 million aggregate streams. His songs “Gold” and “Ain’t My Day” have nearly 15 million streams combined.
In December 2021, Kent released his sophomore album, 21, to positive reviews and found himself on multiple playlists across streaming platforms with the single, “There’s Always Next Year.”
Both albums were released via Combustion Music. On March 4, Kent released his hit single “Wild As Her” and shortly after, signed a deal with Sony Music Nashville and their RCA Nashville Imprint.
Sam Hunt
Hunt continues the weekend’s festivities when he takes the Scope Arena stage Saturday, May 27. His debut studio album, Montevallo, was released in October 2014 and a month later, the album had debuted at number one on the Top Country Albums chart and number three on the U.S. Billboard 200.
Hunt’s most recent album, Southside, features the hit “Body Like a Back Road,” which has gone on to become his biggest hit. Hunt’s work has garnered several awards including the Academy of Country Music Awards (single record of the year), American Music Awards (new artist of the year), and Country Music Awards (songwriter-artist of the year), as well as numerous Grammy, Billboard, and People’s Choice Awards nominations.
Jordan Davis
A special guest for the Saturday, May 27 concert, Davis first broke through with his 2018 Gold-certified debut album, Home State, and he had three consecutive No. 1s songs – the platinum-certified hits “Slow Dance In A Parking Lot,” “Take It From Me,” and the double-platinum-certified “Singles You Up.”
Named Billboard’s Top New Country Artist of 2018 and Best New Country Artist at the iHeart Radio Music Awards, Davis kept receiving praise and has had more than 2 billion streams and counting.
Most recently, Davis wrote and released his 8-song EP Buy Dirt, whose title track became one of the Top streamed country songs of all time and earned the singer/songwriter 4 ACM nominations, including song of the year, as well as a CMA nomination for musical event of the year.
Cody Johnson
Johnson will finish the weekend with a performance on Sunday, May 28. With eight studio albums, Johnson had one of the year’s biggest hits with “’Til You Can’t,” which stayed on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart for two weeks in March. Earlier his year, Johnson won two CMT Music Awards, including male video of the year and digital-first performance.
Randy Houser
Also performing Sunday, Houser had three consecutive No. 1 hits and more than four million in singles sales to date with his Stoney Creek Records album, How Country Feels, reaching the top of the charts with the title track, “Runnin’ Outta Moonlight” and “Goodnight Kiss,” which was also his first No. 1 song as a songwriter. He also earned critical plaudits for his powerful delivery of the Top 5 smash and CMA Song of the Year-nominated “Like A Cowboy.”
Houser added a fourth No. 1 to his catalogue with “We Went” from his 2016 album, Fired Up. Following 2019’s critically acclaimed Magnolia, Houser’s “Note To Self,” is available and is expected to have more new music on the way.
For more information, visit SevenVenues.com and PatrioticFestival.com.