This year's 24th annual Worthington Windsurfing Regatta & Music Festival will feature headlining acts that will cap outstanding musical lineups on both Friday and Saturday.
The Hype, which promises to bring concert-goers on a musical and visual road trip back to the 1980s, will rock the Sailboard Beach stage to close out Friday night, and RECORDS Nashville PLATINUM artist Matt Stell will delight music fans to wrap up Saturday evening's entertainment.
The Hype is scheduled to perform from 9 to 11 p.m. on Friday, June 7, while Stell will play from 9:30 to 11 p.m. on Saturday, June 8. There are a total of five acts set to play during this year's Windsurfing Regatta & Music Festival.
"I'm excited yet again with this year's music lineup," festival president Josh Miller said. "We're getting closer and closer to the 2024 Regatta, and we're working hard at putting everything together for another huge event."
The Twin Cities-based The Hype promotes its music on its website with words many rock fans of a certain era can no doubt connect with: "When you were in high school, did more than one folder get covered with logos of your favorite band?" The band, proclaiming that "Rock Stars Rule!", promises a show that includes the biggest hits from such artists as Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Poison, Bon Jovi and Aerosmith.
The Hype's performance will include five mini-concerts packed into two hours of '80s music – along with a huge stage production, video screens and live antics – that will keep Regatta-goers rockin' out.
“People have been asking for ’80s rock and we booked this band two years ago,” said Barry Roberts, who chairs the festival’s music committee.
Stell, meanwhile, is an artist who has become increasingly popular with music fans everywhere. He has amassed more than a half-billion on-demand streams with his consecutive No. 1 hits "Prayed for You" and "Everywhere But On." He’s also one of only eight new artists to have back-to-back chart toppers in the past six years.
With Billboard touting his “versatile” style, Stell became the first artist to receive a virtual plaque from the RIAA for “Prayed For You,” a multi-week breakout smash which is twice-platinum as well as an ASCAP Pop and Country most-performed song awards winner.
“Matt Stell was someone our music committee thought would be a great fit for our 2024 lineup,” Roberts said.
Other acts scheduled to perform during Regatta weekend are: Rhino, which is set for 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday; High Octane, 4 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday; and Frank Ray, 7:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday.
Rhino, a four-member, high-energy Twin Cities band, has "studied the masters of live rock, country and pop, taken what they have learned and combined it with their own personal style" the band's website states. "The band is constantly looking for new flavors and what's hot to create a show that's always new and exciting. Like your grandmother's favorite recipe, Rhino is a taste you can't get anywhere else."
Rhino has been seen by music fans across the Midwest as it has played at hundreds of festivals, state and county fairs, street dances, clubs and private events in a five-state area.
High Octane, meanwhile, is fronted by David Reed Watson, who has performed with the bands A Rising Force, Alchemy Fire and Kill Ritual. Watson is a major label recording artist with worldwide touring experience. The band, also from the Twin Cities, promotes itself as "one of the hardest-working classic rock acts on the circuit" playing rock anthems of the '80s and '90s up through today.
Frank Ray, who grew up immersed in Mexican culture – in New Mexico, just three miles from the Mexican border – while also surrounded by country music in Texas, blends influences including ’90s Texas Country, Latin, R&B and pop. His cross-cultural appeal led the Los Angeles Times to proclaim that Ray “is looking to stretch Country music’s cultural boundaries.” He had toured the nation and shared stages in support of artists like Luke Combs, Kane Brown, Brett Eldredge, Luke Bryan, Kip Moore, LANCO, Old Dominion, Hunter Hayes and more.
As always, the Worthington Regatta and Music Festival is free and open to the public. All operating revenue from the festival comes from sponsors, registrations, food vendor fees and beverage sales. If your business wishes to be a sponsor, contact FORWARD Worthington at (507) 372-2919 or a Regatta board member, or visit worthingtonwindsurfing.net.
