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Johnny Cash Music Festival is named among Top 100 events in North America

09/21/2012

JONESBORO, AR – The Johnny Cash Music Festival, hosted by Arkansas State University, has been named as one of the American Bus Association’s (ABA) 2013 Top 100 Events in North America.

The ABA selected the Cash event as one of the events to watch, which is a new category this year.

Top 100 Events in North America is used as a guide for people such as travel professionals and the general public. It is designed to come in handy when planning group tours and vacations.

“We are honored that our festival has been named an Event to Watch for 2013 by the American Bus Association, which we consider a significant partner for the future success of our Johnny Cash Boyhood Home Project,” said Dr. Ruth Hawkins, executive director of Arkansas State University’s Arkansas Heritage Sites and the driving force behind the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home restoration program.  “We are especially grateful to our friends at the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism who have promoted our festival as a motor-coach friendly event.”

The Cash family is working with Arkansas State to develop an annual Johnny Cash Music Festival, with proceeds each year going to restoration of the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home and the establishment of a museum. The university acquired the original Cash homeplace in Dyess and restoration of the structure is underway. The university also plans the establishment of the Johnny Cash Boyhood Museum in the New Deal Era Administration Building at Dyess.

The Johnny Cash Music Festival is only in its second year and is scheduled for Oct. 5 in ASU’s Convocation Center, 217 Olympic Drive in Jonesboro, at 7 p.m. Performers include Cash’s daughter Rosanne Cash, Willie Nelson, Dierks Bentley, and the Civil Wars.

Tickets are on sale at www.tickets.astate.edu or by logging onto the official website of the Johnny Cash Music Festival, www.johnnycashmusicfest.com. Call to purchase tickets toll-free at 1-888-278-3267 or locally at 870-972-2781.

The first-ever Johnny Cash Music Festival in August 2011 was a sold-out success. Fans young and old, urban and rural, from places as close to Jonesboro as the small borough of Bono and as far away as Norway, crowded the Convocation Center to witness a concert which included Cash’s family and friends. More than $300,000 was generated by ticket sales and sponsorships for the project.