The Iron Hill Country Music Festival has announced most of its lineup for 2025, including Travis Tritt, Turnpike Troubadours, Chase Rice, Ryan Bingham & the Texas Gentlemen, Midland and Jo Dee Messina.

The new festival, set for Oct. 11-12 at Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, will present more than 20 acts on two stages, organizers said. The goal, they said, is to offer a mix of legacy country artists, modern chart-toppers and rising country stars.

Along with the acts mentioned above, performers will include Maggie Rose, Eli Young Band, Dylan Marlowe, Chayce Beckham, Conner Smith, Matt Stell and Mountain Grass Unit.

Rounding out the lineup are Drew Baldridge, American Aquarium, Dan Spencer, Kashus Culpepper, Smokeshow Rodeo, Channing Wilson and Tiera Kennedy. Two more acts for the festival are TBA, organizers said.

Weekend passes for Iron Hills go on sale Friday, March 7, at 12 p.m. CT, via the festival website. Early-bird prices are $174.95 for general admission, $499.95 for VIP. Perks for VIP tickets include a viewing area close to the main stage, air-conditioned bathrooms, access to a VIP lounge and bar, and a separate entrance at the gate.

Prices for GA tickets will increase over time in various “tiers,” organizers said, growing more expensive as the festival dates near.

When GA early-bird passes sell out at the $174.95 level, the cost will increase to $199.95, organizers said. After that, GA prices will increase to $224.95, and then $249.95. Taxes and fees will be added to passes at all price levels.

Prices for VIP passes will remain the same. A limited number of super-VIP passes, known as Hoss Passes, will cost $999.95 each. The Hoss Pass includes all VIP perks, another separate viewing area for the main stage, 10 drink tickets, a private bar, one meal per day, a camping chair, an ice bucket and a swag bag.

It’s unclear if day passes will be sold for the festival.

A schedule with specific set times for each act hasn’t been announced, but the artists have been divided into two daily lineups, one for Saturday, Oct. 11, and one for Sunday, Oct. 12. Gates open at 12 p.m. on Saturday, 2 p.m. on Sunday, organizers said.

Turnpike Troubadours, Travis Tritt and Midland will perform on Saturday, for example, while Ryan Bingham, Chase Rice and Jo Dee Messina are scheduled for Sunday.

Also, folks who like homegrown talent will be happy to hear that four acts with Alabama roots are booked for the festival: Mountain Grass Unit from Birmingham, Kashus Culpepper from Alexander City, Tiera Kennedy from Gardendale and Drayton Farley from Woodstock.

Food and merchandise vendors will be on site, organizers said. Parking won’t be available at Sloss, but festivalgoers can park in nearby lots or use street parking.

Iron Hills is the brainchild of Johnny Grimes and Chad Johnson, both of whom are organizers of Furnace Fest, a three-day event in Birmingham that showcases heavy rock, thrash, punk and metal bands.

Furnace Fest 2025, also at Sloss Furnaces, is scheduled on the weekend before Iron Hills, on Oct. 3-5. Furnace Fest — a reboot of a “DIY punk rock festival” that was held in Birmingham from 2000 to 2003 — made its return in 2021 and has continued at Sloss over the past four years.

Grimes has made his mark on Birmingham’s music scene in another way: He’s one of the partners who bought WorkPlay in 2023, renovating and reviving the concert venue at at 500 23rd St. South.

Grimes and Johnson described their vision for Iron Hills via a joint statement that says:

“The current climate of the music festival experience tells us that the fans expectations are at the highest level. Fans want what they pay for. Every principal involved in this event started out as a music fan long before we were the ones producing the events.

“We trust that we have the collective experience of being fans first to ask ourselves — what kind of event would we want to attend? How do we push Iron Hills to be something that stands on its own among a sea of other epic concert events out there today?

“You can book great talent. You can hire in great food and great drink vendors. How do we extend beyond what money can buy and produce, not just a concert or a festival, but a world-class experience that will provide memories that last a lifetime? We welcomed the idea of such a challenge.”

The festival founders touted Sloss as a “no-brainer” location, saying the former ironworks at 20 32nd St. North is convenient for travelers, atmospheric for concertgoers and an essential component of the Birmingham skyline.

“In the last five years since we began producing music events here, we have seen artist after artist — instead of being held up in some bus or hotel room, arriving mid-day, demanding just to get lost in the endless tunnels, the engine rooms, or just aimlessly walking the giant perimeter to take in the magnitude of the very place that built Birmingham,” the statement said. “Nowhere else on earth can you stage a concert at an abandoned iron mill.”

Dates for Iron Hills’ debut were announced in December, as organizers spread the word via the Facebook and Instagram pages for Furnace Fest. Iron Hills now has its own Facebook and Instagram accounts, along with a website.

Birmingham has been the home of several high-profile music festivals over the years, including City Stages, Sloss Fest, the Birmingham Heritage Festival, the Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil and more. None of these, however, has focused exclusively on country music.

Traveling country festivals — basically, themed touring concerts with several acts — have stopped in the metro area, such as Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival and George Strait’s Strait Fest. But none of these events originated in Birmingham.

Organizers are touting Iron Hills as the first homegrown country festival in the Magic City.

Alabama does have a major country festival, Cullman’s Rock the South, along with the Auburn Rodeo and Live on the Plains. Also, the Hangout Music Fest in Gulf Shores will transform into the Sand in My Boots fest this year, as organizers partner with country star Morgan Wallen.

June Jam, a beloved country festival in Fort Payne, returned in 2023 after a 26-year hiatus. The festival, founded by the Alabama band, is taking a break this year, but expects to return in 2026, organizers said.

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