GJCF announces Alan Jackson for 2020

     The much-anticipated final entertainment announcement for the 2020 Great Jones County Fair is no longer a secret.

     Country legend Alan Jackson will return 10 years to the day he last performed at the GJCF, July 24. Jackson was last on stage in Monticello, Iowa, on July 24, 2010. That date also holds local significance for another reason… That night a heavy rainstorm overtook the Maquoketa River and the dam at Lake Delhi failed, sending floodwaters downstream into Monticello. The fair was forced to cancel for the remainder of the week due to the flooded fairgrounds.

     Opening for Jackson this year on Friday, July 24, will be Dustin Lynch, who opened for Little Big Town and Keith Urban in 2012 at the GJCF.

     This announcement means three nights of varied country music at the GJCF in 2020. Fair Manager John Harms said each night, which also includes Zac Brown Band and Dan + Shay, will attract a different country music audience.

     “Country music has wide and diverse demographics on country radio,” said Harms of appealing to different age groups. “Both Alan Jackson and Dustin Lynch are your traditional country artists.”

     Harms said Jackson has remained a mainstay in country music into the modern era.

     “Everyone recognizes every one of his songs,” he said. “There’s still a large market for traditional country music.”

     Jackson is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. His handwritten lyrics to “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” his homage to 9/11, were on display inside the Newseum in Washington, D.C. before the museum closed on Dec. 31, 2019. His guitar he used to record that song for the first time was also on display.

     Jackson’s concerts find the country icon performing hits that have gained him legions of longtime fans, songs that continue to draw new crowds as new generations discover his music.

     Jackson has decades of hits for fans alike: “Gone Country,” “Drive,” “Chattahoochee,” “Remember When,” “Good Time,” and “It’s Five O’clock Somewhere” that he recorded with Jimmy Buffett.

     2020 will continue Jackson’s tradition of “keepin’ it country” as he brings 30 years of hits to the GJCF.

     Lynch is a platinum-selling hit maker with a career that includes seven number-one songs and membership in the Grand Ole Opry. Some of his hit songs include: “Hell of a Night,” “Small Town Boy,” and “Cowboys and Angels.”

     Tickets for Alan Jackson and Dustin Lynch go on sale on Friday, March 6, at 10 a.m. on the GJCF website (www.greatjonescountyfair.com). SRO track tickets are $75, seated amphitheater and hillside bleachers are $65.

     Tickets are also still available for Dan + Shay (Thursday, July 23) and Zac Brown band (Saturday, July 25).

     Harms anticipates making concert announcements for the summer of 2021 at the 2020 GJCF.

     “We have offers out there,” he said.