Tickets are on sale for Winter Music Gospel Convention in Palmetto

Gospel music fans will once again make the trip to Palmetto this February.

Booster club tickets are now on sale for Bill Bailey’s 2018 Winter Gospel Music Convention, which brings the top acts in Christian music to the Bradenton Area Convention Center Feb. 5-10.

For Bailey, this year’s event marks his 32nd anniversary promoting southern gospel concerts throughout the United States.

“The excitement level is still the same way it was when I started as a teenager, but when I look in the mirror I’m reminded that my body is no longer the same,” Bailey says. “The winter convention is our largest event that we do each year ... it’s the grand daddy of them all.”

Bailey says that this year’s lineup is particularly impressive. “People are very excited that David Phelps is coming this year,” he says.

Phelps, this year’s special guest at the convention, is a Grammy Award-winning classically trained tenor as part of the Gaither Vocal Band. He is also a four-time winner of the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Awards, which recognize “outstanding achievements and excellence in Christian Music” according to their website.

According to Bailey, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver are among some of the most highly anticipated additions to this year’s lineup. “They are bluegrass legends, he is a huge deal in the industry,” he says. “Southern bluegrass and gospel are like cousins — they’re definitely not one in the same, but we always try to feature a little at each event.”

This is the first time they’ve been a part of the winter convention. For fans of gospel music that have attended the event in years past, many of the regular heavy-hitters and fan favorites will be returning. Among them are such notable headliners as the Collingsworth Family and the Booth Brothers, as well as familiar faces in Second Half Quartet and Eric Haase & Signature Sound.

According to a release, more than 40 of gospel music’s top artists will be appearing throughout the week.

General admission and VIP tickets go on sale starting Sept. 1 and will cost $20 for one night, with six-night passes going for $105 and VIP tickets for the week priced at $145. Parking at the convention center is $5 per night — daytime events, however, are no-cost with parking free of charge. For more information or to order tickets, contact Bill Bailey at 941-756-6942 or billbaileyconcerts.com.

This story was originally published August 1, 2017 at 4:29 PM with the headline "Tickets are on sale for Winter Music Gospel Convention in Palmetto."