This weekend I flew out to Kid Rock’s MAGA country fest Rock the Country in Bellville, Texas, and let’s just say it was a cursed expertise from start to end.

Rock the Country 2026 kicked off its tour at the Austin Country Fairgrounds on May 1 and 2, where I caught live performances from country stars Jason Aldean, Ella Langley, Kid Rock, and more. But unluckily for me and all the other festival-goers who traveled states away to attend the event, we have been met with an infinite stream of inconviences, leaving many of us stranded in the rain and cold for hours on end.

While this festival was marketed as celebrating “hard working Americans,” many of us have been left ankle-deep in the mud, consuming overprized $13 beers, and lacking out on seeing a gifted line-up of country stars. This comes as many attendees demanded refunds after the festival was hit with “excessive rainfall” and “nasty” situations.

After touring all the way in which from New York City to Houstin, Texas, and driving an further hour-and-a-half to make it to Belville, I used to be more than let down by the poor group on Friday. As soon as I bought to the festival grounds on the first day, I used to be instructed to drive to Belville High School where I used to be told shuttles would take me to the venue, which they of course never did.

After parking in the high faculty parking zone around 2 p.m., I stood my place in line, where I used to be surrounded by households and country followers all decked out in ponchos, umbrellas, and layers of garments making an attempt to keep heat and dry in the depressing Texas climate. As wait occasions grew longer and longer, me and my fellow festival-goers have been compelled to crouch behind the dumpsters to use the restroom in the downpouring rain while we waited for the alleged shuttles to arrive.

After the festival start occasions have been pushed back 3 times, we have been finally informed that the live performance would kick off at 6.30 p.m. Due to this surprising change, many acts have been slashed from the line-up including Josh Meloy, Josh Ward, Gannon Fremin & CCrev, Gracee Shriver, and Tommy Acker.

After rentlessly refreshing the Facebook and Instagram pages, we realized that the shuttles have been never going to come, despite being promised by organizers. At this level, I made a decision to just park randomly on the road close to the venue, where I had zero cellular phone service.

Simply hoping for the best, I bought out of my car and just began following the group. After about 20 minutes of strolling in the rain, I finally discovered will call to choose up my wristband – just to uncover that it was about 2+ hours long and wrapped around all the fairgrounds into the road.

Thankfully, my fellow country followers knew how to have a good time and have been taking part in Ella Langley from their telephones and passing around whiskey photographs to keep heat. But as Ella’s set time inched nearer, many have been left upset and pissed off (and tried to bribe bouncers) for a likelihood to get a glimpse of the country singer after hours and hours of persistence.

Luckily for me, I made it just in time to catch the end tail of Ella’s set and get to hear Choosin’ Texas live. While she was every thing I wanted for and more, the mud was deep and disgusting and I might really feel it pooling up inside my boots all the show (as nicely as during Jason Aldean’s set).

Another major grievance I had for the festival venue was normal admission access. I’ve never been so far-off from the stage paying normal admission before, despite having been to dozens of music festivals across the country.

In addition to this, the festival didn’t cater to small city Americans as promised, as that they had astronominal costs for both meals and drinks.

For one singular beer with tax, I ended up paying a whopping $13, while I might in all probability buy the same actual beer for $5 down the road. For the one meal I handled myself to all the festival, I purchased myself fried chicken on a stick with fries, which was average tasting at best and totaled to $28.15.

On the subject of unfair pricing, merch at the festival was also overly costly, with Kid Rock promoting his T-shirts for $45, dad hats for $40, and hoodies for a staggering $65.

And the elephant in the room of course was Kid Rock’s headlining efficiency on Saturday. The whole show was set up to have fun America’s 250 anniversary of independence, which he took very critically. From shows of his friendship with President Donald Trump, a helicopter trip with the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and obnxiously ringing the freedom bell 15 occasions, Kid Rock’s show was every bit as obnoxious and in-your-face as anticipated.

In addition to the shows of patrioism which felt out of place in our current political climate, Kid Rock put on fairly a weird show altogether. Two hours felt like an eight-hour fever dream as I watched Kid Rock get away in dance, DJ, rap, sing country music, lead a couple’s proposal, give away a saxophone, rant about the Grammy Awards, and more.

All this being said, to give credit where credit is due, I’ll say I used to be blown away at how shortly festival organizers have been in a position to recuperate the grounds. While crammed with mud the night time before, by Saturday all the venue was coated in mulch and hay and for the most half was unrecognizable to the night time prior. Another enormous shout-out to the random festival-goer that told me I regarded like Ella Langely – after all my troubles I needed that one.

Overall, the expertise was as cursed and as exhausting as it will get, and I’m praying Kid Rock’s future Rock the Country reveals do not torture their festival-goers like this one did to us.