Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw to headline XPR Augusta festival at Lake Olmstead Stadium

Sep. 21—Masters week just got a lot more interesting in Augusta.

The city of Augusta, the Augusta Economic Development Authority and C4 Live Events out of Las Vegas announced a festival concert series, XRP Augusta, to take place at Lake Olmstead Stadium from April 2-9, 2022.

The former home of the Augusta GreenJackets will host Tim McGraw and Blake Shelton in concert during the Masters holding at least 7,000 people. VIP admission with bottle service and exclusive seating is available for those attendees over the age of 21. General admission tickets are available for attendees over the age of 13 with an adult.

"We are committed to revitalization and we are committed to recovery and we are so blessed to be here and to start to announce those things," C4 Live managing partner Michael Perry said. "The revitalization of Lake Olmstead Stadium is paramount to our programming and we are thrilled to be able to take that on."

C4 Live fell in love with Augusta and wanted to create a permanent location for these festivals.

"When we saw the stadium and just saw the rich fabric that it is, it gives us the ability to do so many things, and we said this is where we want to develop our next set of programs," Perry said.

C4 Live looks to add a "marquee" entertainment venue. There will be free experiences for golf enthusiasts with brand partnerships, retail pop ups and live music.

C4 Live is partnering with five local organizations: the James Brown Academy of Musik Pupils, Jessye Norman School of the Arts, Augusta Boxing Club, the Savannah Riverkeeper and the Golden Harvest Food Bank in Augusta. C4 Live will work alongside the groups to create fundraising opportunities.

Fifty new jobs are expected to be made with C4 Live is committing to a 10-year stadium refurbishment and $1.7 million dollars to host live entertainment year round including Halloween, St. Patrick's Day and New Year's Eve.

Preliminary construction has already started at Lake Olmstead Stadium, with the venue ready by late March 2022. The company also plans to host a soul festival in late April and is starting to plan programming throughout the fall and winter of 2022.

"When we are looking to bring companies to a community, we like to give them not only a proper workforce that is properly trained, but we want the workforce when they potentially move here to have live and play options as well," AEDA Chairman Steven Kendrick said. "This is something that allows people to know that Augusta is transforming an old property that was not being utilized well. We repurposed it, made it available for C4 to use and now people like you and I who potentially couldn't go into the Masters and enjoy the tournament have other things and options to do."

"We've been known as the home of the godfather of soul, James Brown, the Masters golf tournament, (the) cybersecurity capital of the nation, but now we can also be known as the destination for entertainment across the globe to show up for our city and we are extremely proud of that," Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis Jr. said.

SRP Park in North Augusta also plans to host entertainment activities during Masters week. Entertainment company Augusta at Night, which organized the concert featuring Hootie and the Blowfish and Sheryl Crow in 2019, have rented out the space for the week.

"I don't think it creates a competition. I think what it does is it brings more people to the area so that places like SRP Park can now program and do the very same types of things," Kendrick said. "... The more people that come to Augusta during that time period means economically our community does better because we love when others come in and use their discretionary spending here."

Tickets for the venue go on sale at noon Friday. VIP and general admission tickets are available, starting at $175 per person.

Samantha Winn covers the city of North Augusta, with a focus on government and community oriented business. Follow her on Twitter: @samanthamwinn and on Facebook and Instagram: @swinnnews.