Planners hope Womack red hot for 'Fire'

PROVO — Planners of this year's Stadium of Fire are hoping country singer Lee Ann Womack will be as red hot as auburn-tressed Reba McEntire when it comes to ticket sales.

Womack's total ticket-sale count may come with an asterisk, however.

That's because organizers of the main event of America's Freedom Festival at Provo decided to start selling tickets for the patriotic event before the headliner was announced.

While declining to release the exact number of tickets sold so far, Taylor McDonald, executive director of the festival, says ticket sales are comparable to those in the past few years.

Tickets went on sale at 11:59 p.m. on April 21, about a week before the announcement was made that Womack, whose song "I Hope You Dance," catapulted her to stardom, will perform.

Originally, a press conference was scheduled April 5 to announce this year's entertainment but was postponed after America's Freedom Foundation Chairman David McDougal was hospitalized because of a life-threatening brain aneurysm.

McDougal is reported to be "doing miraculously better" and has taken back the reins of the show, attending board meetings and planning sessions for the event.

Still, the delay spurred rumors that festival organizers struggled to book acts for the event, which Macdonald said was never the case.

He also does not expect the late headliner announcement to dampen sales.

"We feel like the headliner is not the key," Macdonald said. "We feel it's the fact that we'll present a show that will be a memorable experience for people of all ages, all musical tastes, all Americans. We think people have learned that they can rely on the Stadium of Fire to be a wonderful family tradition. Historically, we didn't announce headliners until May."

In the past, the show has sold close to 46,000 tickets, with the highest recent number of tickets sold in 2003 when Reba McEntire starred. That year, all single seats and a large portion of grass seating were sold, totaling almost 49,000.

Festival organizers are calling this year's celebration a complete patriotic package, showcasing much more than just one act. Among other performers, an Army parachute jump team and three tribute bands have been booked along with Womack.

"Our show is much more than just a concert," Macdonald said. "It has a lot of fast-paced numbers of all different kinds with a variety of talent. Lee Ann Womack is the headliner, but there's much more."

He said the Stadium of Fire has outgrown trying to get bigger, and is now focusing on getting better each year.

The Stadium of Fire will be held July 1 at Brigham Young University's LaVell Edwards Stadium.

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E-mail: alorimer@desnews.com