By C. Campbell, Staff Writer

cody@southerntorch.com

FORT PAYNE, Ala. — Fort Payne will be celebrating its 11th annual Boom Days festival from September 15-17. According to Maurey Roberts, there will be a wide range of exciting events and activities taking place during the celebration, including musical acts covering several different genres.

On Thursday night, one of the festival’s few ticketed events, the Ragtime Gala, will be held to help raise funds for the Big Wills Arts Council. According to Roberts, those in attendance are encouraged to dress in 1920s attire and dance to music from that time period.

Friday night will see a pair of acts performing that are sure to be an exciting experience for everyone in attendance. Both Appetite for Destruction, the mother of all Guns N’ Roses tribute bands, and Highway to Hell: The Ultimate AC/DC Experience will perform at the main musical stage, located in the Rotary Pavilion parking lot.

Roberts explained that these two tribute bands are quite possibly the most accurate groups to play the music of Guns N’ Roses and AC/DC.

“They [Appetite for Destruction] look like Guns N’ Roses. They sound just like them. If you close your eyes, you’d swear you were at a Guns N’ Roses concert,” Roberts said.

Many more musical acts will take the stage throughout the weekend, including local musician Jacob Stiefel, and gospel groups paying tribute to Joe Underwood, in addition to a vast number of other events.

On Saturday, Southern Rock legends and Georgia natives, Atlanta Rhythm Section will be performing as well as country greats Kentucky Headhunters.
With these bands and the Ragtime Gala, the 2016 Boom Days festival is certain to be an unforgettable experience.