There was a time when Dierks Bentley wasn’t sure if his Colorado-based music festival, Seven Peaks, would ever return.
Dierks launched Seven Peaks in 2018 and it had its second year in 2019, but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. After canceling in 2020, Dierks planned to bring it back in 2021, but those plans fell through due to local capacity restrictions in the festival’s home of Buena Vista, Colorado.
“To lose two years back to back, it's hard,” Dierks admits. “And I honestly wasn't sure whether we were gonna get our shot to do the festival, between that and having to change locations.”
Now, with a new location in Villa Grove, Seven Peaks is making its triumphant return over Labor Day weekend 2022. As always, the lineup will feature some bluegrass-leaning acts and ‘90s hitmakers, plus the best of today’s country star power -- including controversial hitmaker Morgan Wallen as a co-headliner, along with Dierks.
Explaining why he chose Morgan to split his headlining duties with him, Dierks says that he’s got his eye on Seven Peaks’ longevity.
“It only works if you have a guy or girl coming in the night opposite of me that can carry the weight,” he reasons. “Morgan more than carries the weight...[he's] one of the biggest stars in country music right now, driving the most folks ever out there.”
But Morgan’s massive popularity isn’t the only reason Dierks selected him as a co-headliner.
“I love his music...it just has a very country feel to it,” he describes. “The instrumentation is beautiful, and of course, great songwriting.”
Passes to Seven Peaks go on sale to the general public April 22.