Country music, bluegrass, folk, gospel and patriotic music will fill the air at the five-day Rio Grande Valley Music Fest to be held Feb. 14-19 at the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Showgrounds.

During the five-day festival, there will be plenty of well-known performers providing the entertainment. Wednesday, on Stage One, performers include the Prowell Family, Duke Ellingson, Erv Pickhinke, Marge Katzmann, Don Lorenzo, the Jacob Austin Band, Valley Grande Academy Band, Ralph Kuster and Bunny Sigrist. At the same time on Stage Two, performers will include the 1015 Band, Clarence Hayden, Ed Jones, Boxcar Bob, Cactus Willie and the Drifter, Mert Van Houten, Precious Jade, The Afternoon Band, Janie Preston and Country Shades.

Stage Three includes Stage Three Band, Precious Jade, Alvarez Drumline, Janie Preston, Terry Smith, Roger Smith, Roger Kenaston Band, and Francis Hahn. Stage Four has Bill and Susy Kreitz, Big John and Connie Pedersen, Stage Four Band, Roger Kenaston Band, Erv Pickhinke, Boxcar Bob, Cactus Willie and the Drifter, Lucinda Monger and Judy Moore.

Because some of the more well-known performers will be moving around to perform on different stages, it will be possible to see them more than once.

Plan to spend an entire day or several days enjoying the music. Food service starts with a biscuits and gravy breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. daily. Other vendors will be selling a variety of foods for lunch. There will be arts and crafts, musical instrument vendors and music workshops.

Most of the players who will appear on the five stages during the five-day event are professional musicians or have been professionals at one time in their lives. Open mic time is available on all stages; prospective open mic performers can sign up with the stage manager for ten minute segments.

Other performers who will perform on different days include Allen Maynes Kids, Buddy and Tina Wright, Chris Marshall, Dan Adelmund, Deanna Nelson, Don Frizzzell, Don Lorenzo, Donnie Young, and Dulcimer Group.

That’s not all. Other entertainers sign up to perform include Ed Jones, Edcouch-Elsa Mariachi, Empty Pockets, Epard Folkloric, From the Heartland, Gordon Hildreth, Ian Furr, I.W. Henson, Jim Brommel and Don Sanders, Jim King Band, Jim Staton, Joe Weisgerber, John Vrone and Los Oleson. Lonnie Joe Howell, Louie Long, The Punches Family, Terry Smith, Tommy Helms, Valley Grande Adventist Academy, Walter Plant, Weslaco High School Jazz Band and Choir, and the Wynnejammers will also be entertaining.

This year’s show will be dedicated to the memory of Ike Warkentin, who in 2005 was given the task of organizing the first RGVMF on short notice. Others had been producing a music fest, but due to illness canceled their plans. Warkentin, with the help of Geri Clark and Edy McKenzie, organized a two-day festival that was so successful it was decided to continue it yearly. It rapidly grew into the five-day event that now takes place.

This event will have country, bluegrass, folk and gospel music going on at the same time on five different stages. There will be two jamming tents, one for acoustic guitars and one for electric guitars.

For musicians new to the Rio Grande Valley who want to make contact with other musicians, this is the place to meet them. The great majority of musicians who perform in the Rio Grande Valley will be there to perform on at least one of the days.

The RGV Music Fest is a non-profit organization that will provide a venue for musicians of all levels of ability to perform in a professional setting. Players who are non-professionals will enjoy learning new techniques from other more skilled players in the “Jamming Tent” where players gather in small groups to play. With over 100 jams in the Rio Grande Valley every week, there is a great deal of talent to draw on.

The Rio Grande Valley Livestock Showgrounds is located at 100 N. Texas Ave., in Mercedes. Proceeds from this non-profit event are used to provide help for school music programs and provide scholarships to students in schools across the Rio Grande Valley who wish to major in music. Last year, over $20,000 was raised for scholarships and music education in Valley schools, according to the Music Fest website.

As in the past, a daily ticket is $8 and weekly tickets are $25. The Gospel Fest on Sunday morning is free. Seating can sometimes be limited. Feel free to bring lawn chairs.