HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Popular country music superstars, Diamond Rio, will be the Saturday night headliner for Hopkinsville’s newest festival – Summer Salute, presented by Jennie Stuart Health.

Diamond Rio is a six-time CMA and ACM Vocal Group of the Year and has charted 22 Top 10 Singles over 27 years of entertaining.

The August 26-27 Summer Salute in downtown Hopkinsville will also welcome the legendary Jimmy Church Band as Friday night’s featured entertainment.

Summer Salute will have two Kids Zones full of inflatables at the east and west ends of the festival, a Splash Zone with water slides near Little River Park, and a Fun Zone with carnival rides for kids 6-under at Bethel and Ninth Streets. The Kids and Splash Zones are sponsored by Toyota of Hopkinsville. The Fun Zone is made possible by Pennyrile Electric.

Food, merchandise, and sponsor booths will open at 10:00 a.m. A limited number of general merchandise vendor spots are available. A waiting list is in place for food vendors.

The next installment of the popular Fridays@5 Series will begin with the BMX Stunt Show and then will be followed by Jimmy Church Band, sponsored by Casey’s General Store, at 6:00 p.m. at Founders Square.

Friday night will also include a special Cruise-In from Top Gun Car Shows starting at five o’clock in the Justice Center parking lot. The night will be capped off with fireworks at 9:30, sponsored by Budweiser of Hopkinsville.

Saturday’s schedule includes the annual Chamber Military Affairs Committee Chili Cook-Off at Founders Square. Cooking teams from throughout the community, Fort Campbell, and region will battle for bragging rights in this popular event that caps the Chamber of Commerce Military Salute Week.

A new Art Zone on 6th and Main Streets will offer free children’s art activities sponsored by the Hopkinsville Art Guild, open studio painting at Griffins Studio, lunch specials from The Place and classic movies at the historic Alhambra Theatre.

Vendors welcome visitors starting at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday and the Jennie Stuart 5K begins and ends downtown with an 8:30 start. The Top Gun Classic Car Show is expecting over 200 cars for their judged show that will fill up the Justice Center parking lot and much of Main St. The same Fun, Splash and Kids Zones will be in place from 9:00 a.m. till close on Saturday. Plus, the Fort Campbell Band will perform at Founders Square at 2:00 p.m. as part of the Chili Cook-Off fun.

Downtown Train rides are happening throughout the festival around downtown blocks. The community train is made possible with sponsorship from Heritage Bank.

PARKING:
Satellite parking with-to-and-from shuttle service will be available at Ruff Park and at the main parking lot of Hopkinsville Community College from 4:00-10:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Pennyrile Allied Community Services Transportation Division is providing four free shuttles to deliver riders to the corner of North Main and Fourth Streets, on the north end of the festival. Riders can take the shuttles back to the satellite lots after the free Diamond Rio concert that begins at 7:00 p.m. in the Justice Center parking lot. Pick-up and drop points will be clearly marked with signs.

The following streets will be blocked from 5 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Sunday:
• 9th Street from 7th Street to South Main Street
• Bethel Street from 7th Street to 10th Street
• 8th Street from South Main Street to Bethel Street
• South Main Street from 9th Street to 7th Street
• South Main Street from 4th Street to 7th Street
• 6th Street from South Virginia Street to South Main Street

Additional announcements about 2016 Summer Salute, presented by Jennie Stuart Health, will be made at www.hoptownsummersalute.com, as well as Facebook and Twitter pages. For vendor information, contact Parks and Rec at 270-887-4290 or at www.hoptownrec.com.