Barry County officials have approved more than $156,000 for law enforcement at the Rock the Country festival date in Hastings, Michigan, Taste of Country reported on August 6, citing AOL. The county's sheriff, 911 dispatch and emergency management departments are covered under the agreement for the August 8 and 9 show.
Deputies working the event will be paid $110 an hour, with lieutenants at $130 an hour, roughly triple their normal rate, according to documents from the Hastings Board of Commissioners meeting where the funding was approved. Promoters 46 Entertainment and Peachtree Entertainment, who present Rock the Country, are covering the cost rather than taxpayers.
Kid Rock and Jason Aldean headline the Michigan stop, with Brantley Gilbert and Ashley Cooke, who has her own acoustic pop-up tour dates this month, also on the bill.
Rock the Country has grown into one of the biggest traveling country festivals in the US, pairing major country acts with patriotic themes in small-town venues; the Michigan stop is one of several dates on the festival's 2026 run.
The story lands in our country coverage and on the festival tracker.
The facts
- Barry County approved more than $156,000 for law enforcement
- The date is August 8 and 9 in Hastings, Michigan
- Promoters 46 Entertainment and Peachtree Entertainment cover the cost
- Deputies are paid $110 an hour and lieutenants $130 an hour
- Kid Rock and Jason Aldean headline the show
- Brantley Gilbert and Ashley Cooke are also on the bill
- Rock the Country pairs major country acts with small-town, patriotic themes
- The Michigan date is one of several stops on the 2026 run
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