Farmer City’s summer street festival is moving across town. The eastern DeWitt County town’s annual Heritage Days, launched in 2012, recently announced a change of venue, relocating from Main Street to Farmer City Raceway for the 2025 festival.
Country musicians Cody Canada and The Departed and Drew Baldridge headline the two-day rodeo and concert series May 30-31, featuring an expanded kids’ zone, more venders and food trucks, a cornhole tournament and 5K fun run.
Heritage Days kicks off in earnest with a free community dinner on Thursday, May 29, at the Raceway. Main Street will now host a classic car show and cruise.
Gates open at 5 p.m. both nights for the 6:30 p.m. rodeo, featuring bull and bronco riding, barrel races and more. General admission is free, with $25 pit tickets on the racetrack available for the 9 p.m. concerts.
Canada formed the country rock band Cross Canadian Ragweed in 1994 with Grady Cross, Randy Ragsdale and Jeremy Plato, pioneering the red dirt music scene in Oklahoma. They released five studio albums before disbanding in 2010, playing what was billed as their “Last Call Show” at Joe’s on Weed St. in Chicago. The band reunited April 12, 2024 for a daylong concert at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Canada’s cross-genre influences in outlaw country and iconic alternative bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam also show up in The Departed, a band formed in 2011 following Cross Canadian Ragweed’s breakup. Plato, Peyton Glasco and Eric Hansen complete the current lineup.
Baldridge, originally from the tiny Marion County village of Patoka, released his first studio album in 2015, gaining visibility opening for Lee Brice and Cole Swindell. Last year, his single, Somebody’s Daughter, hit Billboard’s top-40 country charts, followed closely by a record deal for a forthcoming album with BBR Music Group’s Stoney Creek Records.
Farmer City's Heritage Days takes place May 29-31 at Farmer City Raceway, 850 N Grove St, Farmer City. For details and tickets, visit farmercityheritagedays.com.