Free festival to highlight Vietnam era music and local music:

By Drake Hutton:

This Saturday, Sept. 2, Panhandle PBS will hold the first Yellow City Music Festival. The entirely free event will take place from noon to 10 p.m. at Memorial Park next to the Amarillo College Washington Street Campus. This event will be kid friendly and will feature music, food trucks, booths, vendors and much more.

This festival is tied to the AC licensed TV station’s broadcast of the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick documentary series “The Vietnam War,” which premieres Sept. 9. The festival’s theme will be the Vietnam War, according to Mike Fuller, FM90 program director. Some of the artists will be playing favorites from the Vietnam and 60s eras to promote the series.

The festival will feature many different kinds of genres this, including the headliner, The Band of Heathens, Zac Wilkerson hOneyhouse and much more. Local music will also be highlighted with appearances from Maggie Burt, and The Dustjackets. There will be two jam sessions during the day — one at midday and one to finish off the night.

The music will range from folk, to rock, to soul, to country, Chip Chandler, PBS digital content producer, said.

Along with all the music and activities, the festival will host half a dozen food trucks, including Marble Slab Creamery, Texas Lemonade and many more.

“I am excited for all the food,” Anissa Telles, a nursing student, said.

The festival will also offer a PBS Kids play area and the splash pad at the park will be open all day. “It’s a fun, free, family day,” Chandler said.

As a part of the many events that day, there will also be a drawing for an autographed guitar by blues rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa. Many other items will be given away, including Panhandle PBS memberships, a boxed set of Ken Burns’ “The Vietnam War” and a related book.

The music festival organizers said they hope that the event will occur annually every Labor Day weekend. Fuller noted that he would like the festival to take the place of the Discovery Center’s former Labor Day event, Discover, once held every year.

Chandler said the Yellow City Sounds Music Festival will celebrate local musicians, their audiences’ love for live music and the importance of Panhandle PBS. “We’re a part of the community and we love any way we can give back to the people who supported us for 30 years.”

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