‘A pretty big splash’: New Tyler music festival planned for September

Published 5:45 am Thursday, April 21, 2022

Troubadour Festival’s first event was held in Celina. The festival will be coming to Tyler in September.

A new music festival is coming to downtown Tyler in September.

Troubadour Festival creator Chase Colston said the event and downtown Tyler are special to him. Colston said he previously worked for Townsquare Media and created the Red Dirt BBQ & Music Festival in 2013, which is typically held in May, but he wanted to create something bigger he could call his own.



Organizers are looking to bring in 40 barbecue restaurants from around Texas and have an already booked country music lineup that Colston believes is “coming out of the gate pretty strong.”

The Troubadour Festival began with an idea Colston had along with his childhood best friend of 30 years. The pair had many conversations about “what life would be like” if they created a music festival of their own, he said.

In 2021, their company, Double Tap Entertainment, became an official family-owned business and held the first Troubadour Festival in Celina, Colston said. It quickly sold out with about 8,000 people in attendance.

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“Selling as many tickets as we did as fast as we did and selling out the first year was kind of surprising,” he said.

Another festival is planned June 4 in Georgetown and Sept. 10 in Tyler.

Since the creation of the festival, Colston said it was always intended to travel around Texas, reflecting the name.

A troubadour is an early century songwriter who traveled through western Europe. The concept of the traveling performer fit the idea of a traveling festival, Colston said.

With three festivals this year, he said he expects to sell more than 20,000 tickets total.

“Barbecue and music are two things that Texans really love the most, so we said, ‘Let’s not only hopefully one day come home and do this, but let’s take it to other parts of the state,’” Colston said.

Colston said he believes the lineup for Tyler is “big,” and lineup reveal is set July 1 with the location to be determined. The barbecue restaurants, artists and event poster will be announced at that time.

“I think we’re going to make a pretty big splash with this one,” Colston said.

Tickets will officially go on sale on July 8. Ticket prices range from $60 to $1,300.

For information about the Troubadour Festival and to buy tickets, visit www.troubadourfestival.com/ .