Gordy's Hwy 30 Music Fest

Dierks Bentley, Koe Wetzel among headliners for starry music fest's Fort Worth debut

Dierks Bentley will be one of the headliners at Gordy’s Hwy 30 Music Fest, taking place October 19-22 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

Photo by Ashley Gongora

A popular music fest is hitting the highway to Fort Worth this fall, bringing big-name headliners to town for its inaugural run. Gordy’s Hwy 30 Music Fest, which started in Idaho in 2009, will travel outside of the state for the first time, coming to Texas Motor Speedway, October 19-22.

The festival will feature a mix of country, Americana, rock, and red dirt artists, including superstars, established artists, and up-and-coming acts. The full lineup was revealed in a July 25 release.

Headliners include Dierks Bentley, Zach Bryan, Cody Jinks, and Fort Worth favoriteKoe Wetzel, joined by other big names like Staind, Gary Clark Jr., Shane Smith & the Saints, The Brothers Osborne, Ashley McBryde, Kolby Cooper, and more.

The festival has been held in Filer, Idaho - just off that state's Highway 30 - every June for the past decade, including this past June, and this will mark the first time ever that the festival will take place in a second location.

“The Hwy 30 Music Fest is all about recognizing the hardworking people of this country and bringing them out to enjoy unbelievable talent where they can just kick back and have a good time,” said festival founder Gordy Schroeder in a statement. “With Fort Worth known as the ‘Culture Capital of the Southwest,’ it only made sense to bring the excitement here to the great state of Texas and continue providing our family-friendly atmosphere.”

Even the lower-billed acts will be familiar for local music lovers, as they include Mike & the Moonpies, American Aquarium, Colbie Caillat, Cody Canada & the Departed, Treaty Oak Revival, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Grady Spencer & the Work, and more.

Just as it does in Idaho, the festival will feature designated days that honor special groups, including military, veterans, and first responders, as well as highlighting cancer awareness and the children support organization, the Ronald McDonald House in Fort Worth.

The four-day event is expected to attract 30,000 to 60,000 attendees.

Tickets are now on sale, with one-day passes ranging from $89-$159. Multi-day and full festival passes are also available, including options to camp in RVs in the venue's parking lot. For more information, go to hwy30tx.com.

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Party Is Over

Party City chain to close all stores including 9 in Fort Worth

Party City

A chain of stores where the party is always going on is closing down: Party City will close all of its stores and has initiated layoffs, effective immediately. According to CNN, CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employees that Party City has to “commence a winddown process immediately,” and that Friday would be their last day of work for the company.

However, the actual store locations, including those around North Texas, will be open until February 28.

Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, Party City is largest party goods retailer in the U.S. — the go-to destination for every type of celebration, with more than 700 company-owned and franchise store locations across North America selling home decor, candles, balloons, wrapping paper, tableware, bulk candy, baking supplies, and more.

A typical Party City store ranges in size from 10,000 to 12,000 square feet and carries approximately 30,000 items. Halloween accounts for as much as one-quarter of yearly sales, but they celebrate all seasonal holidays, from New Year's Eve to the Fourth of July to Father's Day to Super Bowl Sunday, and offer a wide array of merchandise for birthday parties, bar mitzvahs, wedding and bridal showers, and baby showers.

Party and costume merchandise has become more competitive in recent years, with companies like the budget-focused Spirit Halloween expanding beyond its Halloween pop-ups into “Spirit Christmas” stores, as well as competition from Amazon and other online retailers.

In 2023, the chain filed for bankruptcy, then emerged with a plan that included transitioning into a privately held company and canceling nearly $1 billion in debt. At that time, there were approximately 800 U.S. stores.

There are 64 stores in Texas, with 9 in the Fort Worth area, as follows:

Arlington
Burleson
Denton
Euless
Fort Worth
Hurst
Lake Worth
Mansfield
Watauga

Dallas-Fort Worth stores have already started sales between 5 and 50 percent off.

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