I've always thought of the Florida Strawberry Festival as the dumpy, back-country younger sister of the Florida State Fair. A sweet and well-meaning little thing, the pride and joy of her community, but woefully inadequate when measured up against her generously endowed older sibling. The fest is Jan to the fair's Marcia.

But in many ways, Plant City's 74-year-old celebration of its greatest cash crop is better than the Florida State Fair. The State Fair tricks you with its largesse – a wealth of food options and midway rides, a warehouse-sized indoor trade show and a huge amphitheater. The Strawberry Fest is big, too, but it maintains that old Americana harvest feel. It's not as overbearing or impersonal as the Fair; its festgoers, livestock and carnies are far more interesting; virtually anything you buy with strawberries is guaranteed to be damn delicious; and the annual Strawberry Festival Concert Series lineup is indisputably superior to the Fair's sporadic-at-best live music schedule.

Strawberry Fest concerts usually include a who's-who of country music artists, from old-school baby boomer favorites like Glen Campbell and Kenny Rogers to mainstream country veterans Martina McBride and Travis Tritt, to whoever happens to be the country flavor of the moment — this year's choices being questionably talented but darn cute Taylor Swift, American Idol loser-but-still-a-winner Kelly Pickler and the pop-artist-turned-country-sensation Jessica Simpson, who's been in the news more for her ever-expanding waist size than for her artistry.

Then there's always an obligatory Christian band and one or two totally random, eyebrow-raising wildcard acts — some damn good, some not so much. In '07, it was Little Richard and Hootie & the Blowfish. This year, it's Kool & the Gang.

The Florida Strawberry Festival ranked No. 35 on the list of Top 50 North American Fairs for 2008, drawing 550,000 over its 11-day span — a remarkably big number for a small-town fair.

This year's concert series is themed "Hometown Salute to America." All shows take place at 3:30 and 7 p.m. in the 3,000-seat open-air stadium. Eric Snider previews the highlights below. —Leilani Polk

Thursday, Feb. 26

George Jones/Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers Regarded as one of the greatest singers in any genre, country legend George Jones (he performs at 3:30 p.m.) scored his first hit, "White Lightning," in 1959. Now 77, Jones can still turn 'em out at festivals with his honeyed vocals. During the 1970s and '80s, Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers (7:30 p.m.) were major players in a smooth radio sound known as "countrypolitan."

Friday, Feb. 27

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band/Kellie Pickler NGDB, formed in Long Beach, California in the mid 1960s, worked the commercial side of country-rock, crossing over to the pop charts several times in the '70s. The apex of their success came in 1970 with the hit "Mr. Bojangles" (3:30). Kellie Pickler (7:30) proves that you don't have to win on American Idol to have the show spur your career. The sixth-place finisher has found success as a pop-country singer.

Saturday, Feb. 28

Jake Owen/Third Day Vero Beach-bred Jake Owen (3:30) has a deep, twangy baritone that pushed his debut album, Startin' With Me (2006), to No. 8 on the country chart. Third Day (7:30) is an enduring Christian rock band with a stylistic kinship to the myriad post-emo and pop-punk bands from the secular market.

Sunday, March 1

Taylor Swift (SOLD OUT)/Rodney Atkins Did you see Taylor Swift dueting with Miley Cyrus on the Grammys? I think I'll be nice and say that Swift was, um, rather pitch-challenged. Apparently, cuteness wins out, because she's one of the hottest-selling musical artists in the world, even though she's nominally a pop-country singer. So hot, in fact, that she's sold out her Strawberry Fest show. She'll perform at 7:30 p.m. Rodney Atkins (3:30) is a trucker-hat-wearin' Nashville vet who has been a presence on the country charts since 1997 — without ever quite cracking into major stardom.

Monday, March 2

Randy Travis/Jim Ed Brown & Helen Cornelius Travis (7:30) is one of the most enduring stars of the modern country era, with 16 No. 1 singles since the mid 1980s. Jim Ed Brown and Helen Cornelius (3:30) are country veterans whose greatest success came via their duets together.

Tuesday, March 3

Travis Tritt/Connie Smith and Marty Stuart When country music started making blockbuster commercial inroads in the late 1980s, Travis Tritt (7:30) was on the bandwagon with the likes of Randy Travis, The Judds, Clint Black et al. Connie Smith's career took off in 1964, concurrent with rock's British Invasion. She's paired on a bill with Stuart (3:30), who looks like the Liberace of country, but brings plenty of legit twang to his country-meets-gospel sound.

Wednesday, March 4

Brenda Lee/Ray Stevens Brenda Lee (3:30) benefited from rock 'n' roll's lag in development during the early 1960s, landing a couple of sappy No. 1 pop hits ("I'm Sorry," "I Want to be Wanted"). She made the switch to country in the early '70s and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1997. For decades, Ray Stevens (7:30) has been the master of the country novelty hit, several of which crossed over to the pop charts ("Ahab, The Arab," "Gitarzan," "The Streak").

And there's more:

Mel Tillis and Lorrie Morgan, 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Thurs., March 5; Ronnie McDowell, 3:30 p.m. Fri., March 6; Kool & The Gang with Mark Lowry, 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sat., March 7; and Chad Brock and Killer Beaz, Love and Theft and Trent Tomlinson, and Jessica Simpson, 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sun., March 8.

—Eric Snider

This article appears in Feb 25 – Mar 3, 2009.

Eric Snider is the dean of Bay area music critics. He started in the early 1980s as one of the founding members of Music magazine, a free bi-monthly. He was the pop music critic for the then-St. Petersburg...