By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
Following the news that Country Stampede, which has been headquartered in recent years in Topeka, needs to search for a new location there is interest on the part of the Geary County Convention & Visitor's Bureau Director Donna Price. She is interested in possibly seeing the country music festival come to Geary County. Price said, "I think it opens up a lot of possibilities, possibly for us or some of our neighbors that we can also work with."
Price noted that Country Stampede was located near Manhattan for many many years at Tuttle Creek. "I think that we've also got some great spots that they would fit out at Milford State Park or Corps of Engineers."
Price added that she plans to look into the matter further. "It's a huge event, absolutely huge. The whole community basically needs to be involved in volunteering for it. But it brings in so many country western singers that are big names. That will bring them in." Price noted that Country Stampede used to bring in thousands of people at Tuttle Creek.
Price thinks the lake environment would be wonderful but she knows there would be a lot of hoops to jump through. "There's other lakes that we could very well be in competition with. So it will just depend on the RFP's and what they look like and where we go from here." She plans to try and find the right person to talk to on the topic and then proceed from there.
Country Stampede recently announced their intent to search for a new site in 2024 and in the future. They planned to contact neighboring communities and entities including Manhattan to determine interest in hosting the event.