MANHATTAN -Gates at Tuttle Creek State Park near Manhattan open at 1 p.m. Thursday for Kicker Country Stampede.

As aways big name acts will be performing over the three-day period of the country music festival. See the full lineup here.

Stampede President Wayne Rouse said there are two headliners performing the first evening. “Sam Hunt and Dierks Bentley on Thursday, Tim McGraw on Friday, and then Chase Rice and Jake Owen on Saturday. I really believe every night is going to be a good night.”

Thousands of country music fans will attend the festival each day.

Set up for the festival has been challenging in the hot weather, explains Mick McCallister, who has worked for 20 years at Stampede. “I have set up and tear down. It takes about 36 to 40 people, and we have 10 days to set everything up and tear everything down.” McCallister added, “This year been a little bit brutal. It’s been hot, it is a very difficult job, it’s very labor intensive. It’s the heavy lifting of putting on a concert and taking it down.”

Temperatures have hovered around the 100 degree mark in recent days.