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Sara Evans to headline 2012 FRYfest outdoor concert

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CORALVILLE — Sara Evans will headline the 2012 FRY fest — A Celebration of All that is Hawkeye, presented by The Eastern Iowa Airport on Sept. 7.

Sara Evans will perform for FRY fest .

Lee Brice will open the outdoor concert at 7 p.m., followed by Evans at 8:30 p.m., on the Two Rivers Bank and Trust stage at Coralville’s Iowa River Landing. Tickets are $15. All proceeds benefit the annual Coralville 4th Fest celebrations.

Multiplatinum RCA recording artist Sara Evans has been honored with numerous accolades, among them the 2006 Academy of Country Music’s Female Vocalist of the Year and the Country Music Association’s Video of the Year for “Born to Fly.” She has been named one of People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People” and won the hearts of television viewers as the first country star to compete in ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. She enjoys a prolific recording career with mroe than 5 million records sold and five chart-topping country singles, including the self penned “Born To Fly.”

(Find more information on FryFest or the Sara Evans concert.)

2011 marked the release of Evans’ sixth studio album “Stronger” which debuted at No. 1 for two weeks and features the platinum  multiweek top single, “A Little Bit Stronger.” Evans received award nominations for Single of the year and Female vocalist of the year at the 2011 CMA, AMA and ACA awards.

Country singer/songwriter Lee Brice walks a path between traditional honky tonk sounds and contemporary rock ‘n’ roll. Brice has charted a string of singles beginning in 2007 with “She Ain’t Right,” followed by “Happy Endings” and “Upper Middle Class White Trash.” As an artist, his breakthrough came when “Love Like Crazy” was released in September 2009. With a slow but consistent build at country radio, the single eventually peaked at No. 3 on Billboard‘s country songs chart. Spending 56 weeks on the country songs chart, the track made history by breaking Eddy Arnold’s 54-week stay on the chart with “Bouquet of Roses,” which debuted in May 1948. Brice’s his highest-charting single, “A Woman Like You,” reached Np. 1 in April 2012.

FRY fest will recognize and celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Cy-Hawk Series, the day before the Hawkeyes take on the Cyclones in Kinnick Stadium. FRY fest attendees will be able to take in a day of panel discussions reliving stories from broadcasters, players and coaches’ perspectives from this intrastate rivalry game played annually between Big 12 Conference member Iowa State Cyclones and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten Conference.

FRY fest will once again hold the World’s Largest Hawkeye Tradeshow & Tailgate Party where fans can interact with Hawkeye retailers, licensees, and other related groups.  New to the mix will be some Cyclone-licensed vendors offering fans their merchandise, as well. Also returning are the FRY fest car show presented by Carousel Nissan, FRY fest small FRY zone, and the FRY fest pep rally, all free and open to the public.

 

Celebrate Hayden Fry, Iowa football at FRY Fest

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Former University of Iowa football coach Hayden Fry waves to the crowd at Kinnick Stadium during a halftime ceremony honoring him at the homecoming game against Michigan on Saturday Oct. 4, 2003 in Iowa City.

Former University of Iowa football coach Hayden Fry waves to the crowd at Kinnick Stadium during a halftime ceremony honoring him at the homecoming game against Michigan on Saturday Oct. 4, 2003 in Iowa City.

What better way to celebrate everything Hawkeye than hosting a festival honoring one of Iowa’s most beloved coaches? FRY Fest, named after legendary Hawkeye football coach Hayden Fry, will be held Friday in Coralville.

“It’s to celebrate Hawkeye spirit,” says Alyssa Dahmer, communications intern for the Iowa City-Coralville Convention and Visitors Bureau.

It also will celebrate Fry’s 20-year coaching career at Iowa and his humanitarian effort supporting local farmers, Dahmer says.

This year marks several milestones for Fry. He celebrated his 80th birthday in February, and 2009 is the 30th anniversary of his hiring and the 10th anniversary of his retirement as the University of Iowa’s winningest football coach.

At 10 a.m. Friday, Hayden Fry Way will be unveiled at a ceremony at the intersection of First Avenue and East Ninth Street in Coralville. The stretch between Interstate 80 and Highway 6 is the most traveled in Johnson County and is the stretch of road Fry drove for 20 years to his office. Fry plans to attend the ceremony.

But that’s not all. There will also be “The World’s Largest Hawkeye Tradeshow & Tailgate Party,” featuring more than 60 exhibitors, will be held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, 300 E Ninth St. Current athletes and coaches, as well as former Hawkeyes, including Dan Gable and Tim Dwight, will make appearances.
At 1:30 p.m. Fry will be on a panel with Hawkeye broadcasters Bump Elliot, Jon Miller, Ed Podalak, Bob Brooks, Ron Gonder, Gary Dolphin, George Wine, Frosty Mitchell and John Campbell.

Campbell, who started at KCRG-TV9 in 1979, the same year Fry started as UI’s coach, says Fry was an interesting person to cover as a reporter.

“You never knew what you would get,” Campbell says. “He could be funny, he could be serious, he could chop your head off.”

But Fry was always respected and was always thinking, Campbell says.

“When you went to games when Fry was the coach, there was a good chance Iowa was going to win,” he says.

Other tradeshow activities Friday include exhibits, a car show, Hayden Fry look- and sound-a-like contests, a Hayden Fry namesake photo and a Hawkeye pep rally at the Iowa River Landing on corner of Ninth Street and Quarry Road. In recognition of Fry’s 143 victories, 143 Harley-Davidsons will ride down East Ninth Street to kick off the pep rally. After the pep rally country artist Jake Owen will perform, followed by the Outlaws and the Charlie Daniels Band.

Organizers hope FRY Fest will become an annual event. While this year particularly celebrates Fry’s accomplishments, future events will focus more on the Hawkeyes.

— By Angela Holmes, The Gazette

What: FRY Fest
When: Friday
Where: Various locations in Coralville
More information: (319) 337-6592 or http://fryfest.com/

Schedule

10 a.m.: Dedication of Hayden Fry Way, intersection of First Avenue and East Ninth Street
11 a.m. to 7 p.m.: Tradeshow and tailgate party, Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, 300 E. Ninth St.
1:30 p.m.: Hawkeye broadcasters panel, Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.
3:30 p.m.: Hayden Fry contests, Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.
5 p.m.: Hayden Fry namesake photo opportunity, Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.
5:30 to 6:15 p.m.: Hawkeye pep rally, Iowa River Landing, corner of Ninth Street and Quarry Road.
6:30 p.m.: Concerts begin at Iowa River Landing. Features Jake Owen, The Outlaws and The Charlie Daniels Band.