Image courtesy of Evanelle Vineyards

Boots N’ Booze, one of the Central Valley’s most popular country concert series, will be returning for its third summer at Evanelle Vineyards in Madera, with a sold-out crowd on June 28.

Evan Curto, the owner of Evanelle Vineyards, said the idea for Boots N’ Booze came from wanting to host more in-house events beyond weddings. With plenty of space and the ability to handle large crowds, a concert felt like a natural next step.

“We were trying to come up with different concepts and ideas to do our own events in-house, outside of weddings,” Curto, who owns Evanelle Vineyards with his wife Lauren Curto, said. “I’ve always thought it would be a great idea to have a concert out there, since we have the space for it and the capacity for a larger crowd.”

The upcoming show is expected to attract 1,500 attendees. Curto said the popularity of country music in the Central Valley and the relative lack of country concerts in the region were one reason he and his wife decided to focus on country concerts.

“There’s not a whole lot of country concerts that go on in the area,” Curto said. “We thought it’d be really cool to bring something unique to the area.”

The event has seen steady growth since its first year, when about 700 people attended. Along with a larger audience, the production quality and vendor offerings have grown. This year, the vendor village features more food trucks and retail booths representing small businesses from across the Central Valley.

“We just love local small businesses, and that’s why we do it,” Curto said, noting that many vendors are startups looking to build their presence.

In addition to supporting local vendors, the event also brings in some of the best up-and-coming artists Central California has to offer.

Curto said the Brodie Stewart Band, the headliner on Saturday, is a high-energy country cover band from Sacramento.

Another concert is planned for August, and Curto hinted that the series is here to stay.

“We do plan to have this thing continue for many years and just keep making it bigger,” he said.