A guide to the Strawberry Festival concert schedule

Reba McEntire, whose situation comedy Happy’s Place was just renewed for a second season, is the biggest name on the music lineup at this year’s Florida Strawberry Festival, in agriculturally-rich Plant City (Hillsborough County).

Ostensibly a small-town fair (circa 1930) that’s grown into something music larger – primarily because of its country music concert series – the StrawFest for 2025 opens Thursday and continues through March 9.

The Reba show, Friday at 7:30 p.m., has been sold out for weeks. Tickets were $100, and that’s on top of regular gate admission to the fair.

One thing regular attendees will notice is that concert ticket prices have gone up considerably over the last couple of years.

Although the concert lineup for this year doesn’t include any other acts quite as big as Ms. McEntire, it’s a smart cross-section of old-time country acts, newer country artists, R&B favorites (Boyz II Men, Nelly), Contemporary Christian and classic rock ‘n’ roll (John Fogerty, and the band that calls itself Lynyrd Skynyrd).

Nate Smith

Nate Smith. Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $45. This California singer earned three platinum country singles (“Whiskey on You,” “World on Fire,” “Bulletproof”) and duetted with Avril Lavigne on “Can You Die From a Broken Heart.”

Aaron Tippin, Sammy Kershaw and Collin Raye. Friday, Feb. 28 at 3:30 p.m. Tickets $45. This triple-bill of ‘90s country crooners has been on the road for a while (the boys played England Brothers Park in Pinellas Park in 2022). The touring package is called Roots & Boots.

Home Free. Saturday, March 1 at 3:30 p.m. Tickets $35. Minnesota-based a cappella vocal group that took top honors in 2013 on NBC’s reality show The Sing-Off.

Lauren Daigle

Lauren Daigle. Saturday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $65. The heiress apparent to Amy Grant, Louisiana’s Lauren Daigle is a Dove- and Grammy-winning Contemporary Christian artist who’s making pop music inroads. Her 2018 album, Look Up Child, reached No. 3 on the mainstream chart. Most recently, she sang “America the Beautiful,” alongside Trombone Shorty, at the Super Bowl in New Orleans.

Bailey Zimmerman. Sunday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $75. The Illinois-born country singer’s five platinum-selling singles (2022-2024) are “Fall in Love,” “Rock and a Hard Place,” “Religiously,” “Where it Ends” and “Holy Smokes.”

Cornell Gunter’s Coasters, The Drifters and The Platters. Monday, March 3 at 3:30 p.m. Tickets $30. Classic doo-wop and radio pop hits from three 1950s groups with – understandably – zero original members.

Boyz II Men

Boyz II Men. Monday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $55. Nathan Morris, Shawn Stockman and Wanyá Morris, three quarters of the R&B harmony-singing ‘90s group that gave the world “End of the Road,” “I’ll Make Love to You” and other smooth hits, are still together. That’s a quorum!

Sara Evans. Tuesday, March 4 at 3:30 p.m. Tickets $40. Country music’s most underrated female vocalist circa 2000s, Evans has a solid discography of hits (including the chart-toppers “No Place That Far,” “Born to Fly,” “Suds in the Bucket,” “A Real Fine Place to Start” and “A Little Bit Stronger”).

Chris Tomlin. Tuesday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $40. Grammy-winning Contemporary Christian vocalist with a record: Thirty Top Ten hits.

Bellamy Brothers. Wednesday, March 5 at 3:30 p.m. Tickets $25. Howard and David Bellamy, of Darby, Pasco County, comprise one of the most successful duos in country music history. Ironically, their very first single (“Let Your Love Flow,” 1976) was a No. 1 smash on the pop charts.

Lynyrd Skynyrd. Wednesday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $70. When is a tribute act not a tribute act? All the original members of Lynyrd Skynyrd are dead. These guys carry on the legacy.

Oak Ridge Boys. Thursday, March 6 at 3:30 p.m. Joe Bonsall, a founding member of this classic country quartet, passed away in 2024. Duane Allan, Richard Sterban and William Lee Golden carried on, with new member Ben James.

Whiskey Myers. Thursday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $65. Texas southern rock outfit with a couple of major hits (“Ballad of a Southern Man,” “Virginia” and “Stone”).

Beach Boys. Friday, March 7 at 3:30 p.m. Tickets $45. Original BB Mike Love, 83, remains the focal point of the many-times-reconstituted California institution. Bruce Johnston – a member since 1965 – is still in the ranks too.

Jon Pardi

Jon Pardi. Friday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $70. California country singer whose Top Airplay hits include “Dirt on My Boots,” “Heartache Medication,” “Head Over Boots,” “Last Night Lonely” and the Thomas Rhett duet “Beer Can’t Fix.”

Sawyer Brown. Saturday, March 8 at 3:30 p.m. Tickets $40. Straight out of Apopka, Florida (also the home of country legend John Anderson), Sawyer Brown – it’s a group – had an impressive chart run in the late 1980s and ‘90s, with hits like “I Don’t Believe in Goodbye,” “Thank God For You” and “Some Girls Do.” Founding members Mark Miller, Curly Smyth and Hobie Hubbard are still in the band today.

Nelly. Saturday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $65. The three-time Grammy winning rapper first charted in the year 2000, and has racked up four platinum albums. Biggest songs include “Hot in Herre,” “Dilemma” (with Kelly Rowland), “Grillz” and “Just a Dream.”

John Fogerty. Sunday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $75. One of the biggest legacy figures in rock, Fogerty is perhaps best known as the songwriter and voice behind Creedence Clearwater Revival, which dominated charts and airplay in the 1969-71 era. As a solo artist, he also gave us “Centerfield,” which every baseball fan at every baseball game has probably heard a hundred times.

Concert ticket costs are on top of regular admission to the Florida Strawberry Festival. For additional information, and to purchase tickets, visit this link.

John Fogerty