Grand Rapids country station B-93 saw its birthday bash dissolve into a sea of pure Michigan rain as rising waters forced the state police to evacuated concert goers from the Ionia County Fairgrounds.

Police also told many attendees to take what they could carry and leave their automobiles behind to be picked up at a later date.

According to Grand Rapids TV station WOOD, the audience became stranded at the fairgrounds on Saturday when rising waters blocked the exits. About 130 people were sent to an emergency shelter set up by the American Red Cross at a school.

The event, which hosted Blake Shelton, Julianne Hough, Craig Morgan, Zac Brown Band and The Lost Trailers on Saturday, was to feature performances by Dierks Bentley, Emerson Drive, Sarah Buxton, Justin Moore and Trent Tomlinson on Sunday. But Saturday’s rising waters turned the weekend music festival into something more appreciated by ducks than concert fans.

And in what has to be a dose of slight irony, the fairgrounds was full by 3 p.m. Saturday, causing people to be turned away at the gates.

It’s the biggest crowd we’ve ever had,” Ionia Public Safety Department director David Bullings told The Grand Rapids Press.

B-93 is offering full refunds for holders of Sunday reserved tickets. For each campsite purchased, the radio station is refunding half of the purchase price.

For more information on refunds, please click here for the B-93 Web site.

Click here to read the entire Grand Rapids Press article

Click here for the complete Wood TV article.

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