OCEAN CITY, Md. - Friday marks day one of the Country Calling Music Festival in Ocean City, and local businesses on the boardwalk are just as excited as fans for the festival.
Thousands of fans dusted off their boots and lined up this morning to head into the event. Entry gates opened at noon on Friday. Performances for day one include Lainey Wilson, Rascal Flatts, Dierks Bentley, and more.
Derek Boden is a manager at Quietstorm Surf Shop on North Division Street. He says he’s looking forward to a fun weekend.
“It's like a different vibe, a little bit more of a party, but it's cool,” he says. “It's a lot of fun. Everybody's super sweet, and we enjoy everybody coming down and visiting the boardwalk.
Marquis Waters is the head chef at the Dough Roller on 213 Atlantic Ave. He says he anticipates a big crowd during the festival.
“This Friday compared to last Friday is already off to a better start,” he says. “So hopefully it continues through the weekend.”
Country Calling comes a week after a Nor'easter cancelled the Oceans Calling music festival. The storm system brought damaging winds and severe flooding. Cortney Bullock is the co-owner of Cabanas Beach Bar and Grille, which is steps away from the event’s entry gates. She says it's disappointing Oceans Calling was cancelled, but Cabanas made the most of it.
“Unfortunately, it was 100 percent the right move,” she says. “We had a lot of damage, coastal flooding, but everybody still came and had a great time.”
The two-day long festival will wrap up tomorrow with performances from Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert, Brothers Osborne and more.
