Jimmie Allen Announces Second-Annual Bettie James Festival
Jimmie Allen's Bettie James Festival is returning in 2022. For its second year, the event will be held at Hudson Fields in the singer's hometown of Milton, Delaware.
Just like the 2021 iteration, the 2022 Bettie James Fest will be headlined by Allen, and it's also the final stop on the Down Home Tour, the singer's first-ever headlining run. Lainey Wilson and Chayce Beckham are two of the other acts playing the festival, which will also feature rock group We the Kings, singer-songwriter JJ Rupp and more.
Allen is holding a contest for local artists, and the winners will open up the show.
The lineup reflects both the star's musical interests and his passion for supporting the community he comes from, and it also speaks to how powerfully his family has influenced his musical identity. The festival takes its name from Allen's Bettie James project, titled after his late grandmother, Bettie Snead, and his late father, James "Big Jim" Allen.
Allen's dad is also the inspiration behind his current single, "Down Home," which lends its name to his 2022 tour. The song is a letter penned to his father, imagining what Big Jim is doing up in heaven, and reporting back on how things are going, "Down Home."
In fact, all of the singer's album titles have had family themes: His debut album, Mercury Lane, was named after the street where he grew up. His Bettie James project is named after his grandmother, Bettie Snead, and his dad, James "Big Jim" Allen. Next up, he'll release the recently-announced Tulip Drive, which is named after the street where he grandmother grew up.
The 2022 Bettie James Festival is set for Aug. 13. Pre-sale starts on Wednesday (April 27), with tickets going on sale to the general public on Friday (April 29) at 10AM local time.