FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. -- More than 1,500 spectators are anticipated to attend a three-day concert that opens a new festival ground in the New River Gorge June 5-7. The first Mountain Music Festival at ACE Adventure Resort is expected to increase traffic throughout the resort and should help ignite interest in the region as a music destination. "Although this year’s attendance is expected to be only 10 percent of our full capacity, we think we've got a good shot at creating something very important here," Brandi Warwick, special events manager for the resort, said. Eight eclectic bands that have earned renown playing festivals will be featured during three evening performances. Warwick said many festival-goers will be in attendance all weekend, having also registered to raft, camp and zip-line at the Originally proposed to span Friday and Saturday, a free Thursday evening performance of four prominent bands has been added, she said. Tickets for the Friday and Saturday performances range from $40 per person per night to $359 for tickets that include camping, meals, rafting, zip-line tour and general admission to resort activities, including the ACE lake. Bands scheduled to perform Friday and Saturday evenings include Brainchild, Spiritual Rez, Big Something, Keller Williams, Wood Brothers, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band. The free event on Thursday begins at 5:30 p.m. and features four regional bands -- The Boatman, The Wild Rumpus, Black King Coal and Lawless Brown. Established in 1980 as American-Canadian Expeditions, ACE has become one of the leading whitewater-rafting outfitters in the eastern U.S. and maintains the largest outdoor-adventure resort in the country. The Travel Channel ranked it top among extreme outdoor-adventure resorts in North America as a result of its size, the number of guests it hosts, and the number of activities it offers. For more information, visit http://www.mountainmusicfestwv.com/
