The Williamston Freedom Festival celebration will be held this Saturday, June 28 beginning at noon. There will be a live concert featuring local entertainers Andrew Crawford and Brandi Colt (Crawford Colt), followed by national artists Gyth Rigdon and Jon Langston. The concert will be held on the ballfields. Gates for the concert will open at 3 pm. Music starts at 5 pm
A big fireworks show will cap off the evening.
The event will include more than twenty food truck vendors onsite, hot air balloon rides sponsored by the Palmetto Business Association, Envision Williamston’s Bobbers on Big Creek, a Freedom Market in the park, a classic car show cruise-in sponsored by the Williamston Fire Department, fire truck rides, golf cart parade and kid’s fun zone.
There will be designated parking for trailers for those who want to ride their golf carts to the event, and there will be a designated golf cart parking area along Minor Street.
Organizers said there will be a “Big Special Announcement” made at the show.
Freedom Festival Schedule
Freedom Market 10 am – 3 pm
EW Bobbers on Big Creek – Register 12 noon, Race 1 pm
PBA Tethered Balloon Rides – 5 pm – 7 pm
Golf Cart Parade – Line up 2:30 p.m. Parade 3 pm
(Town Square Center)
Fire Department Cruise-In – 3 pm
(Town Square Center)
Kids Fun Zone 3 pm – 9 pm
Gates Open for Concert – 3 pm
Music Starts – 5 pm
Dogwood State Bank is the Corporate Platinum Sponsor for the event and many local businesses have also provided sponsorships.
2025 Freedom Festival Sponsors include: Entertainer Sponsor – AnMed; Kids Zone – Fast Fuel #4; Stage Sponsors – Cristina Ortiz State Farm and H & R Block; After Party Sponsor: Palmetto Construction Services; VIP Tent Sponsor – Ace Hardware; Lighting Sponsors – Scout Realty and Blake Sanders State House; Sound Sponsor – Burgess Family Foundation; VIP Tent Refreshments – Upstate Federal Union, EZ Trip, MD Liquor.
Stars and Stripes Fireworks Show Sponsors – Top Sponsor/Platinum: Spinx; Gold Sponsor – Hunter Quinn Homes; Bronze – Jackson Stanley Realtors; Pewter – Gray Mortuary, Duke Energy, Cox and Cole, All About Fabrics.
Others sponsors include – Pelzer Urgent Care, Palmetto Business Association, and First Citizens Bank.
Crawford/Colt
Brandi Colt and Andrew Crawford, native to the hills of upstate South Carolina, have forged a distinctive path in the realms of bluegrass and country music. Brandi is marked by her soul-stirring vocals, which effortlessly traverse the emotional landscape of their music, from haunting ballads to foot-stomping anthems. Andrew is equally unforgettable with electrifying flat-picking skills that showcases nearly other worldly technical precision. Together, their performances resonate with a unique blend of tradition and innovation. The duo has been featured on iconic stages like The Bluebird Cafe, and even the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville TN.
While also performing as solo artists, both Brandi and Andrew are members of the chart topping bluegrass unit “Wilson Banjo Co” whose latest album held the #1 spot for while.
Gyth Rigdon
Singer Gyth Rigdon is a country boy raised on a southern Louisiana race horse farm in the small town of Singer. Rigdon started singing and playing music at the age of three and by the time he was eight he was singing in church, at private parties, and talent shows. As he got older, he started to play a guitar, an interest that soon blossomed into original songwriting. Gyth’s love for music has always been sincere and second to nothing.
Rigdon has been the opening act for legendary Texas Hall Of Fame country music star Johnny Lee and Louisiana Zydecajun star Wayne Toupes. He was a winner of “The Sound” competition held in Lake Charles, La. Rigdon also competed on NBC’s The Voice in 2019, finishing second.
He developed this blend in the decade prior to The Voice, gigging regularly and releasing independent records, all showcasing his lean twang.
Once he graduated from high school, he set his sights on performing, eventually working his way up to opening for such regional stars.
Rigdon also started entering talent competitions, including the early 2010s reality TV show “The Sound”. Around the same time, he contributed to the 2013 film “How to Love a Geek”, relocated to Nashville, and began releasing independent recordings.
The EP “When I Began” arrived in 2016, with the full-length “When I’m Gone” following two years later.
During this time, he steadily acquired more prominent opening gigs, supporting Jake Owen, Gary Allen and Andy Grammer.
In 2019, Rigdon participated in the 16th season of “The Voice”. During his stint on the show, he was coached by Blake Shelton and gained attention for his version of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA”. Rigdon wound up taking second place on The Voice and distinguished himself as a son of the South, as comfortable singing blues as he was country.
Jon Langston
Jon Langston takes the bold and brash attitudes from classic 90s country and turbo charges his tunes with a 21st century rock sound.
Born in 1991 in small-town Georgia, Langston goes hard, which should come as no surprise. His college football career was cut short when his sixth concussion left him temporarily blind. Switching his focus swiftly to guitar, Langston released a couple of EPs, “Young & Reckless” and “Runnin’ on Sunshine” in 2013.
Armed with a booming, husky voice and big, blown-out riffs built for the arena circuit, Lanston made an impression with driving tunes like “She’s so Georgia”.
It’s not all headbanging in Langston’s world, but even his 2013 love song “Forever Girl, with its heavy dramatic piano and until the end or time pledge, keeps the intensity turned way up.
Still, Langston’s style most frequently skews toward the big , bad, bumping tailgate variety. His 2016 single “All Eyes on Us” uses overdriven grungy guitar and rousing strings to drive its tale of ride or die love and on 2019’s “Now You Know,” Langston draws from a classic country -rock vibe to lay out his blueprint, if you hadn’t figured it out already: He’s just a small-town boy, singing songs about the girl he loves and ripping it up every chance he gets.
