The event, held at Ray’s Entertainment, included headliners Ray Price, The Bellamy Brothers and Cory Morrow.

For both days, Magnolia Music Festival Chairman Mike Karm estimated there were around 5,000 people who attended the festival.

“Everybody loved the Bellamy Brothers and the other headliner acts,” he said. “I couldn’t have gotten better compliments, they loved them all.”

However, the inclement weather did affect the overall attendance of the festival.

“We think we lost about 60 percent of people who would have been there,” said Karm. “Friday, people didn’t show up and Saturday some didn’t.”

He added that many people who bought tickets in advance did not attend.

The change in location turned out to be the right move for the festival, which was previously held on the grounds of the Magnolia Ridge development off FM 1488 in the Magnolia city limits.

Organizers chose to have it at Ray’s Entertainment, only three miles north of Magnolia on FM 1774, because it has a large covered pavilion that could keep musical acts and audience members dry in case of bad weather.

On Friday night, which proved to suffer the worst conditions, many vendor and ticket booths were blown down and some with badly damaged booths chose not to return on Saturday.

Problems with power outages and parking also plagued the festival and a few early Saturday bands were cancelled due to weather concerns. But by early evening Saturday, things were running smoothly.

In addition to the live music, those who came out had the chance to climb a rock wall, see white tigers, partake in a shooting gallery and choose from a variety of food and drinks.

Karm said this year’s barbeque cook-off was the biggest yet, with about 60 teams competing.

Festival volunteers jumped right in despite the weather and helped keep the festival up and running.

“The volunteers that helped with all of it were incredible,” said Karm. “They were walking around with rain gear and mud boots.”

Organizers have already met to talk about next year’s festival, said Karm.

“When we first talked about Ray’s, some people said it wasn’t really ‘in’ Magnolia,” said Karm. “We had people from all around Tomball, Conroe and Magnolia helping out. And because of all the hardworking people, even with the weather we survived.”

Karm added committee members have even begun making “I survived the Magnolia Music Festival” T-shirts.

Proceeds from the festival go toward charities in the community.

Visit "photo galleries" on tribunenews.com to see more pictures from the festival.

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