{"id":2493074,"date":"2026-07-08T08:51:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T08:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2493074"},"modified":"2026-07-08T08:51:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T08:51:07","slug":"illinois-state-fair-reveals-2026-concert-opening-acts-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/illinois-state-fair-reveals-2026-concert-opening-acts-lineup\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois State Fair reveals 2026 concert opening acts lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Illinois State Fair has announced the supporting acts for its 2026 Grandstand Concert Series, adding a range of artists across multiple genres to the lineup scheduled for August in Springfield.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The additions will join previously announced headliners throughout the fair\u2019s run from Aug. 13 through Aug. 23, according to a community announcement. The lineup spans country, rock, hip-hop and reggae, with organizers highlighting a mix of established performers and emerging acts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Fair officials said that the expanded lineup builds on an already strong slate of performances.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cThis year&#8217;s Grandstand lineup was already stacked, and these supporting acts take it to another level,\u201d Illinois Department of Agriculture Director Jerry Costello II said in the announcement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong>More: <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/us\/articles\/illinois-state-fair-announces-theme-150838568.html\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Illinois State Fair announces theme for annual Twilight Parade;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Illinois State Fair announces theme for annual Twilight Parade&quot;}\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\">Illinois State Fair announces theme for annual Twilight Parade<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Supporting acts join diverse concert schedule<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The full schedule of supporting acts alongside headliners includes:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"mb-4\">\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Aug. 14 \u2013 Bailey Zimmerman with Jake Worthington<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Aug. 15 \u2013 Lainey Wilson with Tigirlily Gold<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Aug. 16 \u2013 Matchbox Twenty with Grace Enger<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Aug. 17 \u2013 38 Special with Warrant<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Aug. 18 \u2013 Ziggy Marley with Skip Marley<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Aug. 19 \u2013 Wiz Khalifa with Big Boi<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Aug. 20 \u2013 The Avett Brothers with Drive-By Truckers and Hunter Flynn<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Aug. 21 \u2013 Ella Langley with ERNEST<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Aug. 22 \u2013 The Chicks with Calder Allen<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Aug. 23 \u2013 Shinedown with From Ashes to New<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The performances are part of the Grandstand Concert Series, a centerpiece of the annual fair, according to the announcement.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Organizers highlight fan experience<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Organizers emphasized the role of supporting acts in shaping the concert experience for attendees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cGreat concerts don&#8217;t start when the headliner takes the stage \u2014 they begin with the first note of the opening act,\u201d Illinois State Fair Manager Rebecca Clark said in the announcement. \u201cWhether you&#8217;re discovering a new favorite artist or seeing a well-known performer, fans are in for an unforgettable experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Officials said that the mix of genres is intended to appeal to a wide audience and enhance the overall entertainment offerings at the fair, according to the announcement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Illinois State Fair is scheduled to take place in Springfield from Aug. 13 through Aug. 23.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>This story was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cm.usatoday.com\/ethical-conduct\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:https:\/\/cm.usatoday.com\/ethical-conduct\/;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;https&quot;}\" class=\"link \">https:\/\/cm.usatoday.com\/ethical-conduct\/<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sj-r.com\/story\/news\/state-fair\/2026\/07\/08\/full-2026-illinois-state-fair-concert-supporting-lineup\/90836213007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Illinois State Fair reveals 2026 concert opening acts lineup;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Illinois State Fair reveals 2026 concert opening acts lineup&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Illinois State Fair reveals 2026 concert opening acts lineup<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Illinois State Fair has announced the supporting acts for its 2026 Grandstand Concert Series, adding a range of artists across multiple genres to the lineup scheduled for August in Springfield. The additions will join previously announced headliners throughout the fair\u2019s run from Aug. 13 through Aug. 23, according to a community announcement. The lineup [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2493075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[490958,405978,405977,360475],"class_list":["post-2493074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-grandstand-lineup","tag-illinois-department-of-agriculture","tag-illinois-state-fair","tag-supporting-acts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Illinois-State-Fair-reveals-2026-concert-opening-acts-lineup.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2493074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2493074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2493074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2493076,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2493074\/revisions\/2493076"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2493075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2493074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2493074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2493074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}