Who's playing The Country Fest in 2025? Headliners include favorite Dierks Bentley

LAWRENCE TWP. ? Dierks Bentley will be returning to The Country Fest next summer to headline the annual gathering of country music lovers.

Joining Bentley as fellow top acts over the course of the four-day event will be Warren Zeiders, Bailey Zimmerman and HARDY. More than a dozen country music artists will take the stage overall.

The Country Fest is June 11-14 at Clay's Resort Jellystone Park near Canal Fulton. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday at https://www.thecountryfest.com/. Artist presale begins 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Bentley may be considered Country Fest royalty.

During an interview prior to last year's festival, Aaron Green, who co-owns and co-operates The Country Fest with Joel Beichler, named Bentley as his all-time favorite performer at the event.

"He's probably the nicest guy in the world," Green said. "He was the first act that gave us a shot many years ago, and we've had him numerous times over the years. He's always welcome. He's kind to us and he's kind to the staff."

Emerging as an artist in 2003, Bentley is part of Country Fest history and lore, performing at the inaugural event in 2010, as well as in 2013 and 2018. He also played The Country Fest 2 in July 2021, when two festivals were booked the same summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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In 2010, The Country Fest drew about 6,000 people, with Bentley headlining.

"At that point, we were working out of a spare bedroom," Green recalled in a previous interview. "And I think we ended up losing around $15,000 ... and to me at that time, it was so much money. I was working at a dairy during the day and doing this at night, and I thought my life was over.

"We just kept pushing for it, and actually the second year turned a profit," he added. "And we booked Miranda Lambert right when she took off ... and the rest is history."

So who else is coming to The Country Fest, and what about ticket prices and other details? Keep reading to find out.

Who else is playing The Country Fest in 2025?

Bentley will bring the hits.

Scoring the No. 1 Billboard country single, "What Was I Thinkin'" in 2003, he's produced more than a dozen other chart toppers, including "Come A Little Closer," "Free and Easy," "Sideways," "Am I The Only One," "Drunk on a Plane," "Woman, Amen" and "Gone."

Bentley, 48, has Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music awards and has been nominated for 14 Grammys.

Zimmerman, meanwhile, is a 24-year-old rising country music artist who is much newer to the genre.

In 2022, he reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay charts with the singles "Fall in Love" and "Rock and a Hard Place."

The songs were from his 2023 debut album, "Religiously." Zimmerman was named an Apple Music Up Next honoree last year.

Zeiders is also 24 years old, releasing the album, "Relapse" this year, which followed up his 2023 release, "Pretty Little Poison."

Joining Bentley and the other headliners are Chase Rice, Karissa Ella, Ernest, Zach Top, Josh Ross and Kameron Marlowe.

Multiple slots, however, will be announced later, according to The Country Fest's website.

When do the headliners perform?

Zeiders kicks off Country Fest at 9 p.m. June 11; Zimmerman takes the stage at 10 p.m. June 12; Bentley starts at 10 p.m. June 13; and HARDY performs at 10 p.m. a day later.

Ross and Rice perform on June 12. Top and Ella perform on June 13 and Marlowe plays a day later.

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How much do tickets cost?

Four-day commuter tickets start at $179 each. Single-day admission costs $84.99 for June 11 and $129.99 each for June 12-14.

For more information about tickets, as well as camping and cabins, go to https://www.thecountryfest.com/.

Reach Ed at [email protected].

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: The Country Fest in Ohio announces 2025 lineup: Dierks Bentley, HARDY