The cool breeze and light showers persisted throughout the day. But spirits remained high amid the umbrellas and rain jackets.
“You know, it's really impressive to me, honestly, to have this kind of a crowd here and light drizzle rain all day long,” said Mayor Haynes.
Mayor Stephen Haynes says he thinks the mix of live music and barbeque outshone the minor inconvenience of wet weather.
“And it just shows, I think the barbecue component of this event is that is, pretty popular and people really like it and so glad they're here,” said Mayor Haynes,
And it wasn’t just any barbeque. Ten of the best pit masters in the state came out to serve their best barbecue to festival goers. Between the street tacos, “Texas Twinkies” - Jalapeno Poppers, and perfectly tender ribs, the booths on the BBQ Pitmaster Lawn made sure attendees got their fill of unlimited barbecue.
The unlimited barbecue was a 50 dollar-add-on to the festival ticket. Many took advantage of the deal. But Festival Director Steve Clayton acknowledges that it wasn’t for everyone.
“You know, we get criticized a little bit, the prices are too high, right for barbecue. How, where tell me where I can go where I can go and get unlimited all I can eat barbecue from 10 of the top pitmasters in Texas for 50 bucks? Maybe I'm missing something, but, you know, I think it's a really reasonable meal,” said Clayton.
But even if the festival team fielded a few complaints about the pricing–Clayton says they achieved their main goal of creating an event with a variety of options at different price points.
“We got 10 bands on two stages, uh, five local hometown bands in five region national acts. You know, where can you get that for, you know, under $100 you know, again we're not for everybody, and we understand that, but, you know, we hope that we can appeal to, to a majority of people,” said Clayton.
The Feels Like Home Festival put on 10 hours of music– featuring five acts on the Pioneer Live stage during the first half of the day and five more on the festival main stage sponsored by Kohler. While the set consisted mostly of country music, the early sets offered some rock and roll and even some pop hit covers.
At the end of August, Pioneer Live hosted a Battle of the Bands for local talent. Prizes for first-place and runners-up included cash prizes but also the opportunity to perform at the festival. Goodnight Franklin, runner-up, got the honor of taking the stage.
The event was more than entertainment for Brownwood natives, like Danielle Howard. For Howard, the festival represents a growing downtown, and thriving music scene.
“It is so fun to see how, much, businesses are bringing and sponsoring. I mean, so grateful for Kohler and all of the sponsors to be pouring back into the community. Anybody that pours into the community is that's a win,” said Howard.
“It's been crazy. It's been wild, because, yeah, when I was, when I was younger, it was missing a lot of what it has now,” said Locke.
Scott Locke spent the first 20 years of his life in Brownwood.
“We had the brown reunion, which ended in 2015, but I like what they've been doing. The event center is great. I remember when this was a vacant abandoned building, said Locke.
Locke and his wife Hayden are now viral social media influencers known for their fashion content. They live locally and work with the City of Brownwood to help publicize events.
“I'm trying to show every part of it. I wanna get the shot rolling up, see the crowds, see the line, see what it looks like from the outside, see what the stage looks like, see what the food, everything to really capture the overall vibe,” said the Lockes.
The crowds that the Feels Like Home Festival draws to Brownwood not only enriches the culture of the town. Mayor Haynes says it’s really good for the city’s reputation and its bottom line.
“We actually commissioned to study last year's event and they said the economic impact was over $3 million for the community. We had people last year from over 10 states, now my recollection was over 40 or 45 counties across the state of Texas were represented,” said Mayor Haynes.
Mayor Hayne was speaking of the Economic Impact Report which organizers released earlier this month.
That economic report helped guide festival organizers' plans.
Festival director, Steve Clayton, says they hope their hard work pays off for the city and local businesses.
“You know that the idea of this festival was always to build a brand for the city of Brownwood that will uplift Brownwood and market it regionally, to people to come in and experience Brownwood. They all come out and spend money in the hotels, excuse me, spend money in the, in the businesses, stay in the hotels, you know, buy gas, buy food, go to dinner, shop local, and hopefully that continues to spur the economy here too,” said Clayton.
The heartbeat pumping throughout the event was the live music. From local talent to country super star Gary Allen, festival goers were able to enjoy a range of different voices and sounds.
Rising Texas country singer, Caroline Hale, kicked off the main festival stage show with her band. Hale is from San Antonio and has been playing guitar since she was eight years old. The crowd gave her a warm welcome and Hale says that meant a lot.
“It was kind of a rainy weekend, but it made it fun. And my family and I went to dinner at the Turtle and it was great. Shout out to the turtle. Everyone here is so friendly and it really does y'all, y'all name the festival correctly. It does feel like home,” said Hale.
Rain or shine, that was the goal for Brownwood’s signature music and barbeque festival.
