Central Oregon is growing. You can see evidence everywhere you look.

And the music scene is growing too, led by the first ever FairWell Festival, a three-day gathering of 36 bands happening this weekend at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center in Redmond.

Headliners include country music legend Willie Nelson on Sunday and one of the summer’s biggest concert draws, country-folk singer-songwriter Zach Bryan, on Saturday night.

FairWell is a production of C3 Presents, an Austin, Texas-based concert promoter and the company behind major music festivals like Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza in Chicago and the Voodoo Music + Arts Experience in New Orleans. C3 was already one of the largest concert promoters in the country when it was purchased by Live Nation in 2014. (Note: C3 Presents is not the same company as Bend-based C3 Events, which puts on concerts and festivals locally.)

Birth of a festival

The seeds of FairWell Festival were planted a couple of years ago, when C3 started looking for areas of the country that could be a good fit for a new music festival, said Sophie Lobl, Global Festival Buyer for the company. Lobl books bands for a “large portion” of C3’s music festivals and oversees branding and creative design with a team of her colleagues, she said.

“(After the COVID-19 shutdown), a call went out to a lot of different markets that don’t have festivals but where there’s a thriving music scene and a music festival could work,” Lobl said. “Central Oregon was one of the locations that came up, obviously, so we went out to these different markets to scope the scene.”

The region was recommended to C3 by Mary Clare Bourjaily, head of concerts in Oregon for Live Nation, Lobl said. C3 works closely with Live Nation’s venues and teams as they plan festivals to try to ensure a smooth entrance into any new market, she said.

“A key thing for us is that we’re able to give back to the local community and also that the local community would be welcoming of a festival,” Lobl said. “We never want to come into any market and offend the people who live there, and when we looked at Bend, it felt like outside of the amphitheater, there was a really thriving music scene and definitely a desire for a festival.”

The right venue

C3’s team looked at some ranch properties in the area, as well as potential venues in Redmond and as far away as Portland before zeroing in on the fairgrounds, she said.

“That was obviously a huge win for us because they have the infrastructure to do a show like this and were wanting to do a show like this,” Lobl said. “A lot of times we come in and build a festival venue from the ground up … but in this case, the venue was just perfect.”

The fairgrounds hosts many events — including annual concerts at the Deschutes County Fair — but before this year had never had a large-scale music festival. In addition to FairWell, it is also scheduled to host the Cascade Equinox Festival in September.

Capacity for FairWell is 35,000, Lobl said, and organizers expect attendance to be near that number.

“The space they have there is absolutely huge. They have such capacity to do so much more there,” Lobl said. “We proposed to them what we were thinking … and they were really excited. They’ve been great partners for us.”

C3 looked at other factors, too, including Central Oregon’s status as a tourist destination and the size of Redmond Airport, where direct flights from Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles will be key in bringing people to FairWell. Hayden Homes Amphitheater’s busy schedule and growing number of sold-out shows also made the region seem promising, Lobl said.

“That amphitheater is such a beautiful venue and they’ve just just been able to add so much to the calendar, so it seems like it’s a really healthy market,” she said. “There are certain markets that are thriving post-pandemic and I think Central Oregon is definitely one of them.”

This weekend, Lobl will be on hand to experience the fruits of her labor firsthand.

“We’re honored and excited to have the show there,” she said, “and we’re hoping that people both from outside the area but especially locals are able to come and have a really great experience and see that we’re trying to add on to what already exists in Central Oregon.”

FairWell Festival:

4:30-11 p.m. Friday (doors open 4 p.m.)

12:30-11 p.m. Saturday (doors open noon)

12:15-11 p.m. Sunday (doors open noon)

three-day tickets $275 and up, one-day tickets $100 and up

Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center, 3800 SW Airport Way, Redmond

fairwellfestival.com

You already know the big names playing this weekend’s FairWell Festival in Redmond, like Willie Nelson, Zach Bryan, Sheryl Crow and Turnpike Troubadours. But there are a bunch of great smaller acts playing the event that are well worth your time and attention earlier in the day. Here are five of them, plus when they perform:

Charles Wesley Godwin, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Friday

Godwin’s deep West Virginia roots come through in his music, which he calls “Appalachian Americana.” Expect to hear echoes of bluegrass, old-time music and ancient fiddle tunes coursing through his incredible songs.

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, 3:15-4:15 p.m. Saturday

Alongside Billy Strings, Tuttle is leading bluegrass into the future, not only with her world-class guitar picking, but also her songwriting skills. Her 2022 album “Crooked Tree” offers a modern, ultra-melodic vision of the genre.

Bella White, 2-3 p.m. Sunday

In April, this Canadian artist released her stunning second album “Among Other Things.” Packed with compelling country-folk songs, authentic mountain twang and raw emotion, it’s proof the 22-year-old is a mega-talent.

Y La Bamba, 3-4 p.m. Sunday

Singer-songwriter Luz Elena Mendoza leads this adventurous Portland combo, which blends traditional Mexican music, gentle American folk, gauzy Northwest indie-pop and themes of queerness, identity, loneliness and acceptance.

Yola, 7-8 p.m. Sunday

Yola might just headline this festival in a year or two. The British singer and songwriter is a force of nature with a voice that will stop you in your tracks, and her album “Stand For Myself” is a masterpiece of soulful roots music.