Travis Tritt, Aaron Watson Headline 11th Annual Boots For Troops Concert in the Country in Magnolia
For one October weekend, a horse farm in Magnolia will again become one of the Houston area's more unusual country music venues — and the reason behind the transformation reaches far beyond the stage.
The 11th Annual Boots For Troops Concert in the Country, presented by Moffitt Companies and Planet Ford Humble, is set for Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16-17, 2026, at Show Sports Farm, located at 32931 Wright Road in Magnolia. This year's headliners are Texas country favorite Aaron Watson on Friday and Grammy Award-winning country artist Travis Tritt on Saturday.
For families across Magnolia, Tomball, Cypress, Montgomery County and the greater Houston area, the annual event offers two evenings of live country music, food trucks, vendors, auctions and activities in a casual outdoor setting. But Concert in the Country has also grown into something larger over its first decade: a major fundraiser for Boots For Troops, the Magnolia-based nonprofit created to support active-duty military members, veterans and military families.
While the music draws the crowd, the purpose behind the event is what gives the weekend its meaning. Concert in the Country is a two-day fall country music festival benefiting programs including customized care packages for deployed troops, travel assistance for active-duty service members, military spouse scholarships and service dogs for veterans.
A Concert That Started in a Magnolia Pasture
Long before nationally known artists were taking the stage, Concert in the Country began with a simple fundraising idea and an available piece of family land.
Boots For Troops founders and Tomball residents Jimmy and Lindsey Rogers launched the nonprofit in 2015 after Jimmy's experience serving in the U.S. Navy. During a deployment aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, he saw firsthand how much receiving mail from home could mean — and also noticed that some sailors received nothing while others opened generic packages containing items they could not necessarily use.
That experience led the couple to develop a different approach: care packages created specifically for the individual service member receiving them. The original concept included a new pair of boots in each package, giving the organization both its name and a distinctly Texas connection. Over time, many recipients began choosing uniform or combat boots as part of their packages.
The Rogers family also had a place that could help the young nonprofit raise money. Lindsey's parents owned Show Sports Farm, a roughly 35-acre horse property in Magnolia. As the organization looked for fundraising ideas during its first full year, the possibility of holding a country concert in the pasture emerged.
That idea became Concert in the Country. Each year, portions of the working horse farm are transformed with a stage, sound equipment, tents, seating and other festival infrastructure before returning to their everyday use after the event.
The inaugural concert was held in 2016 and drew more than 1,000 people, raising approximately $31,000 for Boots For Troops programs, according to an event sponsorship listing from the following year.
The fundraiser kept growing. By 2024, the first eight years of Concert in the Country had generated more than $700,000 for Boots For Troops programs, according to reporting by the Montgomery County Courier.
That history makes the 11th annual event more than another stop on the fall festival calendar. What began as a concert in a Magnolia pasture has become one of the nonprofit's signature ways of turning local participation into support for military families far beyond Montgomery County.
Aaron Watson Leads Friday Night's Concert Lineup
Friday, Oct. 16, will feature an all-Texas-leaning lineup topped by Aaron Watson, the Amarillo-born singer-songwriter whose career has included more than two decades of touring and recording country music.
According to the event schedule provided by Boots For Troops, Friday's lineup is:
- 5:30 p.m. — Gates open
- 6:30 p.m. — Bubba Westly
- 7:30 p.m. — Walker Montgomery
- 9 p.m. — Aaron Watson
Watson has appeared at previous Concert in the Country events, making his return especially fitting for an event with deep ties to Texas country music. Past editions have also welcomed artists including Pat Green, Tracy Lawrence, Joe Nichols and other established performers.
Travis Tritt Headlines Saturday Night
Saturday brings a longer afternoon and evening of music before Travis Tritt closes the main concert.
The scheduled lineup for Saturday, Oct. 17, is:
- 4 p.m. — Gates open
- 4:30 p.m. — Steve Helms & Ben McPherson Duo
- 5:30 p.m. — Scooter Brown
- 7:15 p.m. — Josh Ward
- 9 p.m. — Travis Tritt
- 11 p.m. — After Party at Leslie's Sports Bar #2
For longtime country music listeners, Tritt's appearance gives this year's Concert in the Country a particularly recognizable headliner. The Georgia native became one of the defining country artists of the 1990s, building a catalog that includes hits such as “It's a Great Day to Be Alive,” “Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)” and “T-R-O-U-B-L-E.”
The weekend lineup also gives Texas and regional country artists plenty of time in the spotlight alongside the headliners, bringing a full showcase of country music to the festival.
More Than Music: Food Trucks, Auctions, Vendors and Honoring Heroes
Concert in the Country is designed as an all-ages, family-friendly event, giving parents the option of bringing children rather than arranging an adults-only night out. The weekend also includes food trucks, vendors, live and silent auctions and opportunities to honor military heroes, according to event materials.
Food will be available for purchase from multiple food trucks, and vendors will be set up throughout the event grounds. The official festival information notes that the venue is wheelchair accessible and provides ADA restroom facilities.
The auctions are an important part of the fundraising model rather than simply an entertainment add-on. The event's volunteer committee includes teams dedicated specifically to live and silent auctions, its Honor Our Heroes segment, raffles, hospitality, vendors, parking, security and other pieces of the weekend operation.
Organizers are also seeking volunteers and sponsors for the 2026 event. Boots For Troops says Concert in the Country typically attracts more than 3,000 attendees, giving participating businesses and community organizations a way to support the nonprofit while reaching a large local audience.
How Boots For Troops Helps Military Members
The story behind Concert in the Country is ultimately the story of what happens after the final song is played.
Boots For Troops began primarily as a customized military care package organization, with staff communicating directly with service members or their families about what each recipient likes, needs and could actually use while deployed.
The approach differs from assembling identical boxes in bulk. Recipients can provide preferences ranging from favorite snacks and sports teams to practical needs, and the packages include a personally selected pair of boots. The goal is not simply to ship supplies overseas but to create something recognizable as having been prepared for one particular person.
The nonprofit's work has expanded since 2015.
Through its Warrior Morale Project, Boots For Troops provides travel assistance to selected active-duty service members, helping offset airfare and other transportation costs so they can return home during the holidays or in other circumstances.
The organization has also developed a Military Spouse Scholarship program and supports efforts to provide trained service dogs to veterans, broadening its reach beyond deployed personnel while keeping its focus on military families and morale.
The scale of that work has grown considerably from the nonprofit's early years. By 2020, Boots For Troops had already delivered 1,937 customized care packages and helped 115 service members travel home, according to reporting at the time. The organization had grown from sending roughly 10 packages per month during its beginnings to approaching 100 per month.
Its financial footprint has grown as well. The organization's latest publicly available federal tax filing reports approximately $1.11 million in revenue during 2025, compared with a nonprofit that began in 2015 with a small fundraising effort and a simple idea inspired aboard a Navy ship.
What to Know Before Going
The 11th Annual Boots For Troops Concert in the Country takes place Oct. 16-17, 2026, at Show Sports Farm, 32931 Wright Road, Magnolia, TX 77355.
Tickets, current admission options, volunteer opportunities, sponsorship information and event FAQs are available through concertinthecountry.org. The official event site advises guests that tickets may be available at the gate if the festival has not sold out, while VIP tickets must be purchased in advance. Children 12 and younger require a $10 ticket, according to the festival FAQ.
On-site parking is available for a fee, food will be available for purchase and the event is scheduled to take place rain or shine, although performances may be paused or canceled if organizers determine weather conditions are unsafe. Guests should also note that the festival does not permit re-entry after leaving the grounds.
For those who have watched Boots For Troops grow from a small Montgomery County nonprofit into an organization serving military members and families across the country, Concert in the Country offers a familiar reminder of where much of that work began: neighbors gathering together, this time with boots on the ground and country music coming from the pasture.
Stay tuned to My Neighborhood News for more local events, community fundraisers and updates from Magnolia, Tomball and communities across the Houston area.
Tiffany Krenek has been on the My Neighborhood News team since August 2021. She is passionate about curating and sharing content that enriches the lives of our readers in a personal, meaningful way. A loving mother and wife, Tiffany and her family live in the West Houston/Cypress region.Do you own a business?
