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Country superstar Eric Church will perform his first RBC Ottawa Bluesfest show on July 5 next summer, headlining a triple bill of country music that also includes Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jason Isbell and his band, The 400 Unit, and Saskatchewan’s Colter Wall.

Tickets and passes are available in a special presale, starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday, marking the earliest on-sale date in Bluesfest’s 25-year history. Tickets normally go on sale when the lineup is announced, usually in February or March.

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The pre-Christmas sale comes in response to fans who want to purchase tickets as gifts, but also reflects the increased competition for top-name artists by festivals across North America.

Photo by Jean Levac / Postmedia

Mark Monahan, Bluesfest’s executive director, said festivals face pressure every year to secure earlier bookings.

“This is the earliest we’ve announced any headliners,” he said, “and I think in part it’s based on the cycle getting earlier and earlier. There’s a lot of competition … it prompts a bunch of festivals to try to do their stuff really early because no one wants to lose out. And of course, once one starts, everyone else does.”