PLANT CITY, Fla. — Exciting news for Florida Strawberry Festival goers: Three new musical acts have been added to the lineup!
Walker Hayes, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, and Chris Young will join the likes of music icon Willie Nelson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, CeCe Winans, The Oak Ridge Boys, Josh Turner, and Halestorm at this year's festival.
The Jacksons were scheduled to perform during the festival but canceled due to a medical emergency, the Florida Strawberry Festival announced on Feb. 16.
"The Jacksons were deeply disappointed to miss this event and expressed their appreciation for their loyal fanbase," Florida Strawberry Festival President-Elect Kyle Robinson said in a statement.
The Pointer Sisters will replace the Jacksons and perform at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 8.
"We've been working diligently to secure these remaining acts," Florida Strawberry Festival President Paul Davis said in a statement. "We know how hard it has been to wait, but we appreciate your patience and look forward to sharing in the excitement of the shows we have secured for you."
The festival is an 11-day community event that celebrates the strawberry harvest of eastern Hillsborough County, according to the festival's website. It says more than 500,000 people enjoy the festival each year.
Advance tickets for admission and concerts will go on sale on Dec. 8 and can be purchased here.
Here's who's currently slated to perform between March 2-12, 2023:
- Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra
- The Oak Ridge Boys
- Willie Nelson
- Halestorm
- The Jacksons — Canceled
- Sara Evans
- The Gatlin Brothers
- Neal McCoy
- Josh Turner
- Roots & Boots feat. Aaron Tippin, Collin Raye and Sammy Kershaw
- CeCe Winans
- Tanya Tucker
- Bill Haley Jr. & The Comets
- Tommy James & The Shondells
- for King & Country
- Wayne Newton
- Train
- Sawyer Brown
- Keith Sweat — Canceled
- Country Gold Tour, featuring Leroy Van Dyke, T.G. Sheppard, Mandy Barnett and T. Graham Brown
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
For more details about entertainment acts at the Florida Strawberry Festival, click here.
This year's theme of the Florida Strawberry Festival is "We Have a Winner!" For more information about this year's event and tickets, click here. Earlier this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law at the festival to designate strawberry shortcake as Florida's official state dessert.
"The strawberry industry has an economic impact of more than a billion dollars
in the state of Florida," President Paul Davis said in a statement in October. "Plant City is home to roughly 12,000 acres of strawberries and the Festival serves just about 200,000 shortcakes each year. We're proud of our city and the Florida strawberry. It's kind of a big deal around here!"
10 Tampa Bay's Claire Farrow contributed to this story.
Editor's note: Keith Sweat canceled his performance at the 2023 Florida Strawberry Festival due to "unforeseen circumstances," the Florida Strawberry Festival announced.