The Oneida County Sheriff's Office providing security at Hodag. Image courtesy: WAOW TV
RHINELANDER, WI (WSAU-WAOW) — Saturday is expected to be the busiest day of this year’s Hodag Country Festival, and everyone is making preparations.
Of all the groups taking the stage this week, one name is creating a lot of buzz: Hardy, Saturday’s headliner.
“Very excited for Hardy, he puts on a very good show,” said Hailey Meske.
“Yeah, he rocks hard. Phenomenal show. Super stoked,” added Nikki Dent, who said she and Meske had seen him open for Morgan Wallen in Milwaukee in April.
With a name like Hardy coming to town, Saturday’s crowd is expected to be larger than usual, which law enforcement is well aware of.
“It’s part of our schedule every year that we realize it’s pretty much all hands on deck in Oneida County,” said Captain Tyler Young with the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department.
Plans for extra security have been made months in advance, based on how similar events have drawn around the country.
“The festival, they do a good job of communicating that with us, and we staff it for a large event, and if it turns out that people aren’t there, we’re capable of retracting some of that staff,” Young said.
However, as of press time, he says the need to retract staff is unlikely, based on the number of people he’d seen on the grounds Friday.
“People are out there to have a good time, and that’s what they’re doing, they don’t want to have a negative interaction with law enforcement, and we traditionally see very few negative interactions,” Young said.
He also recommends people be careful with setting cell phones down in lawn chair cup holders since they can accidentally trigger 911 calls.
Featured musical acts begin Saturday at 1 p.m. with Drake Milligan and end with Hardy at 9 p.m.
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