Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Country Stars Head Lineup for Antelope Valley Fair

Three top country artists--Clint Black, Randy Travis and Hank Williams Jr.--will headline the Antelope Valley Fair, officials announced Friday.

Also signed up to perform at the fair, which will run from Aug. 26 to Sept. 5 in Lancaster, are the rock music group REO Speedwagon and the comedy duo, the Smothers Brothers.

“I’m very pleased,” said Ralph Bozigian, chairman of the Antelope Valley Fair Board’s entertainment committee. “I think we probably have the finest lineup that we’ve ever had.”

The Fair Board has allocated $415,000 to pay for the artists, but he said the concerts generally net more than that sum. Bozigian said the concerts draw thousands of people who also patronize food booths run by local charities.

“More people coming through the gate (means) more people spending money on hot dogs and hamburgers,” he said.

The performers will appear in the fair’s Redman Grandstand, which seats about 10,400.

Artists such as Kenny Rogers and Reba McEntire have sold out the grandstand during past fairs, and Bozigian said Clint Black, whose only Los Angeles-area appearance during 1994 will be at the fair, is a strong bet to sell out this year.

A new sales policy will be used this year to make sure local residents have a chance to buy tickets and to make it more difficult for ticket scalpers to buy large blocks, fair officials said Friday.

Concert-goers must line up to buy tickets on a first-come, first-served basis, beginning at 8 a.m. June 25. Sales at the fairgrounds ticket windows, 155 E. Ave. I, will continue the following day. Each patron can purchase no more than 10 tickets per concert for seats in the area closest to the stage.

Previously, tickets could be obtained by mail or by phone prior to the opening of the ticket windows. This year, phone and mail orders will not be processed until June 27.

The fair entertainment schedule will be: Hank Williams Jr. on Monday, Aug. 29; Randy Travis on Tuesday, Aug. 30; REO Speedwagon on Wednesday, Aug. 31; Clint Black on Thursday, Sept. 1, and the Smothers Brothers, with comedian Carrot Top on Friday, Sept. 2.

All concerts will start at 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices include admission to the fair. Tickets cost $25, $20 and $17 for the country concerts; $20, $15 and $12 for the REO Speedwagon and Smothers Brothers concerts.