Ryan Cormier

The News Journal

Ding, ding, ding! Let the Kent County country music festival battle begin!

On the day before Harrington's new Delaware Junction country music festival puts its tickets on sale, Dover's Firefly Music Festival announced its own spin-off country festival called Big Barrel Country Music Festival Thursday morning.

Big Barrel, which will be held at Firefly's home in The Woodlands near Dover International Speedway, will run June 26-28 and feature headliners Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert.

Tickets for Big Barrel, created in conjunction with California's annual country Stagecoach Festival, go on sale Thursday at noon for $99 a piece. (Delaware Junction's three-day passes go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. at $199 a pop.)

While Live Nation's Delaware Junction focuses heavily on modern country with headliners Jason Aldean, Toby Keith and Florida Georgia Line, Big Barrel has cast a wider net, including traditional country, alternative country, bluegrass and Southern rock acts.

Also on Big Barrel's roster: Lynyrd Skynrd, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Sturgill Simpson, The Del McCoury Band, The Felice Brothers and others.

Organizers say The Woodlands will be outfitted with a large dance hall, barbecue area and saloon for the festival, which will run the weekend after Firefly, which runs from June 18-21.

"Firefly, combined with its home at The Woodlands of Dover International Speedway, has established the East Coast's standard when it comes to delivering a top-notch music festival, " Greg Bostrom, director of Firefly and Big Barrel, said in a statement. "We'll leverage the Firefly foundation and our collective backgrounds bringing preeminent music festivals to life to establish Big Barrel as the benchmark for country music experiences this side of the Mississippi River."

Camping options range from $149-$999 with RV packages running from $99-$599. VIP three-day passes are $499.

Here are the announced acts for Big Barrel with more to come:

Blake Shelton

Miranda Lambert

Carrie Underwood

Jake Owen

Chris Young

Gary Allan

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Loretta Lynn

Merle Haggard

Eric Paslay

Jon Pardi

Sturgill Simpson

Dan + Shay

Cassadee Pope

Charlie Worsham

Jana Kramer

The Oak Ridge Boys

Joel Crouse

Chris Stapleton

The Del McCoury Band

Shakey Graves

Billy Joe Shaver

Nikki Lane

Jackie Lee

Logan Mize

Hurray for the Riff Raff

Wade Bowen

Caitlin Rose

Steven Lee Olsen

The Felice Brothers

The Stray Birds

Sam Lewis

The Deslondes

Whiskey Shivers

Drake White and the Big Fire

-- Ryan Cormier, The News Journal. Facebook: @ryancormier. Twitter: @ryancormier. Instagram: @ryancormier.