Overview Million Dollar Music Fest is a free, all-ages country concert on Jackson Hole's Town Square, the park framed by its four elk-antler arches. The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar produces and presents it on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend as the closing night of Old West Days, and it has become the unofficial start of summer in the valley. A ticketed kick-off show inside the Cowboy Bar opens the weekend on Friday night. On site A full concert stage goes up on the square facing the Cowboy Bar's neon bucking bronc, and gates open at 4 p.m. for three national acts, rain or shine. A roped-off VIP section sells a limited number of tickets. Beer, wine, liquor and food are sold on the grounds, and the park in the middle stays an alcohol-free family area. Shops and restaurants around the square keep their normal hours. After the show, sponsors and VIP guests head across the street to a post-party at the Cowboy Bar. Audience Crowds have topped 7,500, a mix of locals and Memorial Day visitors who have come from as many as 30 states. It is a family crowd in the park and a western-wear, cowboy-hat crowd along the stage, and the free gate brings in people who would not buy a concert ticket. Talent and Influencers Past headliners and openers include Midland, whose members have Teton County roots and helped start the festival, along with Jon Pardi, Trace Adkins, Travis Tritt, John Michael Montgomery, Lauren Alaina, Runaway June, Tenille Townes, Hudson Westbrook, Avery Anna and Neal McCoy. Lonestar and John Morgan have played the Friday kick-off. Artist posts carry the promotion well past Wyoming; the headliners' own Instagram and Facebook audiences run to the hundreds of thousands each. Track record The late Cowboy Bar owner Bill Baxter started the festival to raise the bar for live music downtown, and it has run every Memorial Day weekend since. The Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce bills it as the grand finale of Old West Days, next to the Best of the West Parade and Old West Brewfest. The Jackson Hole News and Guide and Buckrail cover it each spring. Admission has stayed free. Brand presence The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar holds the presenting title. Earlier partners have included Wyoming Whiskey, Tito's, Michelob ULTRA, Pepsi, Red Bull and The Wort Hotel. Sponsor tiers run from Ranch Hand to Cattle Baron, which puts the brand into the official festival logo. The Friday kick-off has its own Out of the Gate sponsorship with screen signage inside the bar, and each tier carries VIP tickets, post-party access and, at the top levels, hotel rooms.