Let’s Go! Music Festival Starts Friday At The Fairgrounds

Two local bands will kick off the third annual Let’s Go! Music Festival at the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds in Crownsville.

The three-day, family-friendly event begins Friday, June 2, with Pasadena-based rock band Local Orange on the main stage at 4:15pm. The festival held an online battle of the bands to determine this year’s opening act.

“It’s the biggest stage they’ve ever played on,” said Adam Moore, marketing coordinator for the festival, of the group made up of college students.

Local Orange will be followed at 5:00pm by longtime local rock act Laughing Colors, whose frontman, Dave Tieff, encourages fans to head to the fairgrounds early, even if that means ducking out of work.

“We can write them notes if we have to,” Tieff joked, adding that fans can expect “a Laughing Colors power set.”

Headlining Friday night is ‘90s rock powerhouse +Live+, with whom Laughing Colors has performed in the past.

“It’s such a good mix with the other bands that are playing, because it’s all the same kind of high energy, from start to finish, rock ‘n’ roll,” Tieff said.

After Friday’s all-rock lineup, Saturday will focus on alternative music, featuring headliner 311.

Rounding things out Sunday night on the main stage will be country crooner Chris Young, whose hits such as “Getting You Home” and “Famous Friends” have been topping country radio charts since 2009. In January, Young released “Looking for You,” his first solo single in three years.

The success of the previous two festivals has allowed owners Liz Rawlings and Chris Hartman to expand. This year’s event boasts a physically larger mainstage than years past, as well as an additional stage for the local acts.

“That’s the vision. We want to grow it even bigger. So, we’re super excited to keep this thing going,” said Liz Rawlings, who co-founded and co-owns the festival with her brother, Chris Hartman.

Rawlings said Let’s Go! attracted roughly 6,500 people in 2022, and this year they’re expecting closer to 10,000. Thirty acts are slated to take the stage.

Along with bringing in big names, Let’s Go! hopes to provide music lovers with an up-close, early live experience with bands on the rise.

“Maybe you’ll get to say, ‘Oh, I saw them in the middle of the day at Let’s Go! Fest and I was able to go right up to the front of the stage,’ and then they become a huge act,” Moore said.

This year’s festival will have a nautical theme complete with VIP captain’s boxes for an exclusive view of the stage.

“People love to be outside, and the sun shining, dancing to music, hanging out with other people that love live music,” Rawlings said. “The field and the fairgrounds is a great place for that to take place because there’s so much space there for us to utilize.”

In addition to a stacked lineup for live music, Let’s Go! will feature an array of local food trucks, lawn games by Peake Social and giveaways ranging from fanny packs to a PRS guitar.

Tickets are available at www.letsgofest.com. Children under 12 can attend for free. Parking and water are also free.