DOWN SOUTH MUSIC FESTIVAL: Charlie Daniels Band highlights event ...

In just under a week, the Lions Club Fairgrounds will play host to the Down South Music Festival with the Charlie Daniels Band.

Tickets are still available for the annual music festival - scheduled for Saturday with doors opening at 4 p.m. - and organizers are finishing last minute preparations, according to Tim Copas, who has managed the publicity for the festival.

"It's a great time to come out and enjoy this great event," he said. "We have a good start, but we want more people to come out and buy tickets so we have a nice gift for (Christians United Outreach Center of Lee County)."

Lights on Broadway, an organization comprised of Broadway residents that formed to help victims of the 2011 tornado, has coordinated the concert and organizers intend to use funds generated from the festival to help CUOC, Copas said.

"We want to supply CUOC with at least four months worth of food," he said. "They give out 50,000 pounds of food a month. We are going to try and reach that goal as best we can."

There will be two food drives this week in anticipation of the festival, he said, from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at The Feedmeal, located at 112 S. Main St., Broadway, and from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday at WWGP/WJFA radio station, located at 2201 Jefferson Davis Highway.

"There's a lot of things that have happened to us since the announcement of the concert," said CUOC Director Teresa Kelly. "We just feel so blessed for it all."

Three local performers - Eric Smallwood, Darkwater Rising and Rob Matthews - will kick off the concert when doors open at 4 p.m. Saturday. At 5:45 p.m., Huckleberry Blue, Crush and Jim Quick and the Coastline Band will open for the Charlie Daniels Band.

Admission is $20 in advance or $25 at the door or $20 at the door with five canned goods. Tickets are available at www.downsouthmusicfestival.com or at the Feedmeal or Remax of Sanford. Copas said there were 3,000 estimated tickets sold already and people should brings chairs or blankets for seating.

"It's a great event for the community," he said. "I know advertisements have gone on in Fayetteville, Raleigh and Greensboro. It's exciting people from these markets will come to Sanford for the event. Hopefully, Sanford will support this as well and we can show what we can do as a community."

WANT TO GO? What: Down South Music Festival with the Charlie Daniels Band When: Doors open at 4 p.m., show starts at 5:45 p.m. Saturday Where: Sanford Lions Club Fairgrounds, 505 N. Seventh St. Admission: $20 in advance, $25 at the door or $20 and five canned goods at the door.