By Karen Hall

Editor

The Charlie Daniels Band will be the featured performer at the Goats Music and More Festival this year.

Interim City Manager Eddie Fuller made the announcement at the City Council's meeting Tuesday.

"For the start of the second decade of Goatfest, we wanted to do something a little special," Fuller said.

The date of the festival has been changed to Sept. 27-28 for three reasons, Fuller told councilmen.

First, Saturday, Sept. 28, is a date when The Charlie Daniels Band is available, which is not true of the second Saturday in October, Goatfest's usual date.

Second, the October date clashes with the Texas State Fair this year, and many of those who come to show goats said they would be going to the Texas event instead of coming to Lewisburg if they had to choose.

And finally, Fuller said, the weather might be better in September. Some years, conditions have been warm and perfect for the festival in October, but there have also been cold, rainy festival days that really put a damper on attendance and even vendor participation.

Fuller declined to speculate on whether Goatfest would continue in September, or move back to October in 2014.

He also noted most of the music budget has been spent on The Charlie Daniels Band, and told people not to expect a big-name act for the Friday night entertainment.

Daniels, 76, has been in the music business since he was a teenager. He is a singer, guitarist and fiddler, as well as being a songwriter and music producer.

Daniels won the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance in 1979 for "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." The following year, "Devil" became a major crossover success on rock radio stations after its inclusion on the soundtrack for the hit movie "Urban Cowboy." starring John Travolta.

Daniels and his band appeared in the movie, playing themselves. The song is by far Daniels' greatest success and is still receiving regular airplay on classic rock and country stations.

Another festival will be held in Rock Creek Park next month.

At the council meeting, Police Chief Chuck Forbis announced the police department has taken over Mayfest as a fundraiser for Cops for Kids, moving it from the square to the park. Mayfest will be held all day Saturday, May 4, Forbis said, and include food, activities, a dunking booth, and another kind of musical entertainment: the Teen Idol contest.