One of The Center at Forrest County’s largest annual events will return Aug. 15, giving Pine Belt residents the opportunity to experience a modern professional rodeo competition and the nationally touring Bulls, Bands & Barrels close to home.
Bulls, Bands & Barrels is a traveling Western-style sports entertainment experience. According to Jeremiah Branch, executive director of The Center at Forrest County, Hattiesburg was among the first cities to host the event.
“Bulls, Bands & Barrels is generally sold out, and a lot of it has to do with the entertainment that they bring in,” Branch said. “Like last year, they had Hudson Westbrook and Ole 60, and this place was crawling with people.”
This year’s event will feature bull riding, barrel racing and freestyle bullfighting, followed by a concert by country artists Carter Faith and Tyler Braden.
Faith and Braden have 3 million and 4.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify, respectively. Braden is best known for his song “DEVIL YOU KNOW,” which currently has more than 272 million streams on the service.
Branch said attracting top performers can be difficult because of touring costs and the venue’s 6,500-seat capacity, but traveling productions help bring nationally recognized acts to Hattiesburg.
Tickets for Bulls, Bands & Barrels are available through Big Tickets.
