Jason Aldean and Cole Swindell will headline 30th annual Winstock fest in 2024

Tickets are on sale for the fundraiser country hoedown in the small town of Winsted, Minn.

September 13, 2023 at 12:30PM
Jason Aldean is returning to Winstock in 2024 in the small town of Winsted, Minn. (Alex Kormann, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Jason Aldean is going to try singing in a small town in Minnesota next year as part of the 30th annual Winstock festival.

Aldean, the country veteran who made a lot of noise this summer with the controversial No. 1 song "Try That in a Small Town," will join Cole Swindell as headliners for June 14-15 in Winsted, Minn., population 2,205.

Aldean, who packed Treasure Island Casino amphitheater in August outside Red Wing, has headlined Winstock before. "Try That in a Small Town," which carried a polarizing pro-vigilante message, was his 27th No. 1 country single since 2005.

Swindell — who has 12 Nashville No. 1 hits, most recently "She Had Me at Heads Carolina" — will be headlining Winstock for the first time. He opened for Thomas Rhett in July at Xcel Energy Center and sang after a Twins game at Target Field in 2022.

Also scheduled for Winstock in 2024 are Jon Pardi, Russell Dickerson, Sara Evans, Tracy Lawrence, Love and Theft, Hailey James and Tigirlily Gold, among others.

"It's hard to believe it's been 30 years of Winstock," festival committee chairman Dave Danielson said in a statement. "It's amazing to look back at its beginnings and what it's become today."

Traditionally the first country festival in the Upper Midwest every summer, Winstock drew about 1,300 people to see Waylon Jennings, Crystal Gayle and others in 1994. In recent years, the two-day fest has drawn 15,000 to 20,000 per day. This year's headliners were Miranda Lambert and Cody Johnson.

Run by a committee and staffed with some professionals and more than 700 volunteers, Winstock is a fundraiser that has generated several million dollars for Holy Trinity Catholic School in Winsted.

Tickets for 2024, starting at $150, are on sale at winstockfestival.com and 320-485-4287. VIP tickets are already sold out.

about the writer

about the writer

Jon Bream

Critic / Reporter

Jon Bream has been a music critic at the Star Tribune since 1975, making him the longest tenured pop critic at a U.S. daily newspaper. He has attended more than 8,000 concerts and written four books (on Prince, Led Zeppelin, Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan). Thus far, he has ignored readers’ suggestions that he take a music-appreciation class.

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