Bayou Country Superfest returning to Tiger Stadium in 2012

The third annual Bayou Country Superfest will be held in Tiger Stadium May 26-27, 2012, organizers of the country music festival announced today. “It’s on!” said Quint Davis, producer-director of the festival, in a statement. There had been concerns the festival could leave Baton Rouge after being held the past two years at LSU over Memorial Day weekend. The Metro Council in December removed a $300,000 subsidy for the country music festival from Mayor Kip Holden’s budget proposal. Critics objected to subsidizing a for-profit festival, and some council members said they at least wanted some accountability as to how public money would be used. Davis warned that without outside support, the concert was in danger of not happening again. Last month Holden, Metro Councilman Joel Boé, the Baton Rouge Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne came up with a plan to use a BP recovery grant allocated for the parish to help with the subsidy. Davis says more details of the 2012 festival, including the performing lineup, will be released in upcoming months. The festival, which has featured performances from stars such as Taylor Swift, Kenney Chesney and Tim McGraw, drew 85,000 fans the first year and 75,000 this year. The festival has also been a big boon for local hotels and restaurants, filling up what had traditionally been a dead Memorial Day weekend.