Grounds Admission $8; includes Main Stage Dance/Concert (Children 11 & under admitted FREE)

Saturday Morning activities begin at 10:00 a.m.

10:00 am - Giant Parade (Rain or shine)

Rain or Shine we will hold the Luling Thump Parade. For a small town Luling attracts a huge number of floats in our Annual Watermelon Thump Parade. As well as the local fesitivals and businesses and civic oragnizations, we often have floats from very far distances. Our parade lasts up to an hour. It winds through neighborhoods so there are lots of good viewing areas... See this map to choose your viewing spot[link].

Thump Grounds Open (until 1:00 a.m. on Saturday)

Children's Entertainment

Sponsored by
PROGRESS DRILLING

Sponsored by
Kamala Lewis DDS

1:00 pm - Watermelon EATING Contests

in the Thump Pavilion

Sponsored by
LULING DISCOUNT PHARMACY

3:00 pm - Champion MELON AUCTION

5:30 p.m. - WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SEED SPITTING CONTEST

in the Spitway Pavilion

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SEED SPITTING CONTEST PRIZES
18 Years and Older
Sign up 1 hour prior

• 1st Place - $500.00
• 2nd Place - $150.00
• 3rd Place - $100.00
• A bonus prize of $500.00 will be awarded to the first person at this contest to beat the Thump's Guinness Book Record of 68 feet, 9 1/8 inches.

Children's Seed Spitting contest information is in our Kids Fun section of this website

ENJOY LIVE ENTERTAINMENT ON FOUR STAGES

MUSIC UNDER THE TENT

Acoustic Sets

12:30 to 1:30 - Hillie, Mike Sandford, Chris Somerlatte

2:00 to 3:00 -  Robby Abel, Ben Smith

3:30 to 4:30 - Smokey Wilson, Pake Rossi, Ben Danaher

5:00 to 6:00 - Ryan Bales, David Fenley, Woody Russel

Sponsored by
FROMBERG ASSOCIATES, Inc.

SMALL PAVILION STAGE 

12:00 to 3:00 - Shiner Hobo Band

4:00 to 6:00 - ARMY MEDICAL COMMAND BAND

SPITWAY STAGE

Sponsored By:

SPITWAY STAGE

7:30 to 9:30 - One for the Road

10:00 to Midnight - Chris Miller and Bayou Roots Band

Main Stage Entertainment

7:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.

Opening Act: Charlie Shafter

Who is the Charlie Shafter Band? The Charlie Shafter Band consists of four marginally educated ant farmers from Duluth, Minnesota. The band was formed from a common friendship and genuine love for the 1980's. Their music is world renown; however, their story is little known.

Or maybe it's the other way around?

Whatever...

The Charlie Shafter Band set out to do two things when it formed: 1) to clarify the pronunciation of the word barrette, and 2) to prove the Aztecs did indeed invent the vacation. In accordance with prophecy, four ant farmers will drop their small ant farming shovels and pick up musical instruments. Joel (The Frugal) is awarded the power of rhythm. Charlie (The Meek) is endowed with spongy vocals. A power from above enables Clayton (The Just) to funk it up. Lastly, Adam (The Cruel) was infused at birth with tangy fingers. The band has received mixed reviews from places as far away as Germany. They tour extensively and farm copiously, never losing sight of their ultimate goal.

Followed By: Brandon Rhyder

Many people have come to know Brandon Rhyder’s name and music over the last few years. Regionally he’s definitely a staple of the Texas scene and has made the most of each opportunity he’s been given. Brandon Rhyder is different. When you hear the voice you know it’s unmistakably him. When he comes out with a new single you never know what you’re going to get.
Brandon Rhyder loves to take you to the top and then jerk the rug out from under you and start the process all over again. Brandon Rhyder doesn’t write for a genre, but rather for the inspiration he receives. ‘I take pride in the
songs that I write and want to be able to sing many of them for years to come. I still have a lot to learn and as life presents itself I’ll continue to strive to get better’, says Brandon.

Headliner: Josh Abbott

A mere 57 seconds into the opening track of the Josh Abbott Band's She's Like Texas, you're likely to be hooked. One intro, one verse and one chorus are pretty much all that's required to recognize something special in the Texas-based act.

The winding riffs that open "Road Trippin" have a weighty Southern-rock air about them, though the actual instrumentation-fiddler Preston Wait and guitarist Gabe Hanson breeze through the lines in unison-hints faintly at the western-swing heritage deep in their Texas roots. Bass player Daniel Almodova and drummer Edward Villanueva set a powerful, chugging rhythmic foundation that walks the line between commercial country and raw honky tonks.

And Josh Abbott-the founder, lead singer and chief songwriter for the ensemble-evinces a slight Steve Earle character: breathy, fiery, intense.

Those initial sounds set the tone for She's Like Texas, the sophomore album from the Lonestar State's best-kept secret. The project is deceptively simple in its approach, built around honest songs about real-life emotions with strong harmonies and winsome melodic hooks.

But it's complex in its results. There's a joyfulness in the sonic foundations of "All Of A Sudden," "Brushy Creek" and "If You're Leaving (I'm Coming Too)," an ease in the de-stressing "Hot Water," a philosophical bent in the folksy "End Of A Dirt Road" and a reflective sadness in the closing ballad "Let My Tears Be Still."

There are so many emotions tied into the album that the listener is guaranteed to feel something.

"The most important idea that I write songs with is that they're autobiographical," Abbott says. "Nearly every song I write is a true story of mine, or of someone I know."

That truthfulness breeds passion for the material. And that passion comes through in the performances, both in the recording studio and on stage. It's why the Josh Abbott Band has quickly become a Texas institution, selling out many of its shows in the region-and why its talents can't be confined for long to the Lonestar State.