Fritz Hager III’s family cheers him as he performs during the Rose City Music Festival in October 2022. It was Hager's first time to perform alongside major headliners like Koe Wetzel and Nelly. Hager, of Tyler, was a Top 5 finalist on 'American Idol.'

Approximately 7,000 people made their way to the Tyler downtown Square on Saturday for the inaugural Rose City Festival put on by Townsquare Media.

The first-ever event offered something for everyone with several different genres of music on the festival’s lineup. The lineup spanned generations and catered to multiple musical styles, according to event organizers.

Headlining the show was East Texas native Koe Wetzel, a platinum-selling country-rocker. Wetzel, who is currently signed with Columbia Records, released his fifth album Hell Paso last month.

Penny and the Flamethrowers got the party started with a performance in the afternoon.

Untold Story, an alternative and classic rock band from Tyler, opened the main show followed by Tyler native Fritz Hager III. Earlier this year Hager finished in the Top 5 on “American Idol.”

On the stage next was Grammy award-winning artist Nelly. Nelly released his debut album “Country Grammar” in 2000, “Hot in Herre” was his first No. 1 hit. Known for several popular songs such as “Dilemma” and “Just a Dream,” Nelly also collaborated on the “Lil Bit” track with Florida Georgia Line in 2021.

Townsquare Media Tyler-Longview Market President, Chief Revenue & Content Officer Carleen Dark-Bays said the Rose City Music Festival was dreamed up shortly after the Red Dirt Festival last year.

“The vision for the festival began right after Red Dirt BBQ 2021. I met with Liz Ballard who runs the Rose Festival and we were talking about how much fun it would be to do something on a bigger scale the weekend before Rose Festival to kind of kick off the Rose Festival activities,” she said.

Dark-Bays said she worked with the Strutters, an all-volunteer fundraising organization, on their free concert at Bergfeld Park and felt it would be a great partnership for a new festival.

“It just kind of came together that why don’t we do a festival, because I do a festival every year already, so why don’t we do another one to shine a light on the Rose Festival. A lot of people that have moved to Tyler don’t really know what the Rose Festival is and don’t understand it,” she said. “So, let’s do some good for the Strutters by creating an event that showcases what the Rose City has to offer. Through this festival I was able to partner with them as my charity and give them a donation so they can give a greater donation for patrolmen and in-turn they are helping me by volunteering for the festival.”

Dark-Bays went on to say unlike the Red Dirt Festival, she wanted the new festival to showcase the Rose City while also offering entertainment for all audiences.

“We wanted to take all the things we knew worked from Red Dirt but use it to make a different kind of festival. We really wanted the Rose City Music Festival to be a celebration of all things Rose City.” she said. “So, of course we had it on the brick streets. Our headliner this year is from Pittsburg. We wanted to celebrate the best of local restaurants in Tyler, have multiple genres of music, just make it something that the whole city could get behind and hopefully have fun.”

Dark-Bays said it was important to offer a diverse musical lineup that everyone could enjoy.

“Red Dirt is all Texas, all country artists; with this we wanted something different. So, we asked ourselves what headliner is selling a lot of tickets that people want to see and Koe Wetzel hasn’t played here since 2019 when we brought him to Lindale, so it was time to bring Koe Wetzel back,” Dark-Bays said. “And, also how can we represent several different genres of music. Untold Story kind of resonates with our classic rock audience, and then you’ve got Fritz Hager and Nelly, and really everybody loves Nelly; there’s not an audience that doesn’t love Nelly. And, of course, the headliner for our country fans.”

By Tuesday, tickets had sold out, according to Dark-Bays.

Dark-Bays said she was extremely excited and hopes the festival will become an annual event.

“We’re excited, it’s our first time to do this festival, we hope it becomes an annual thing. We want it to be something that’s really good for downtown and the community and the City of Tyler,” she said. “We are just really excited to have everyone come and I am so thankful to my team for helping make all this happen and bring it together. I hope everyone has a great time.“

Several local restaurants were also on hand for the first-time event offering free food samples from 2 to 6 p.m.

For more information, visit the Rose City Music Festival website.