Photo Provided The Monroe Theatre’s stage is decorated and ready for Saturday’s Country Music Jamboree. The event begins at 6 p.m. Saturday at the theater in Woodsfield.

WOODSFIELD — The Monroe Theatre is reviving an old country music festival after more than 50 years since it was last held on the theater’s stage.

Tickets for the Country Music Jamboree are nearly sold out. The event is set to take place at 6 p.m. Saturday. Mick Schumacher, a county commissioner and member of the Monroe Arts Council, said only a few of the 300 tickets remained available as of Thursday.

‘It’s going to be a good show. We’re really excited to see how it goes” he said. “This will be our first packed house since COVID, so hopefully that will be a sign that things are going back to normal.”

Schumacher said performers will take the stage during the three-hour event including Sue Williams, Shortline Junction, Cole Winland, Gage Joseph, Jimmy Williams, Nephew Haddon, O.R. & W. Engineer, and Kadelan Griffith.

“The performers are going to do a little bit of a comedy routine in between sets,” he added.

Plans for the show have been underway for the past few months since members of the arts council discovered old newspaper articles about the former jamborees that were held each month.

“After doing research this past winter on the theater, we found the information on the jamboree. We didn’t even really know about it until then,” he said. “We’re just trying to bring back something that happened in the past to the theater now.”

Schumacher said the jamboree has not been held at the theater since the early 1960s. Sue Williams performed on the theater’s stage during the final jamboree that was held decades ago. Williams will again grace the stage to perform at the revived jamboree, he said.

“We are bringing her back to play now. She’s kind of ushering this back for us,” he said.

In its heyday, the theater would hold the jamborees each month and would feature a variety of local performers. Schumacher said the events were “big hits,” and organizers wanted to continue the tradition.

Schumacher said they plan to hold additional jamborees in the future. Events will be held quarterly and on the second weekend of the month. The next jamboree is set for July 10 with additional dates planned for November and January.

Additional ticketed shows are on the horizon, Schumacher said. Jimmy Fortune, who previously played with The Statler Brothers, is set to take the stage June 12. Tickets are on sale now. Phil Dirt and the Dozers will play Aug. 7. In the meantime, the theater will also continue to host free shows for the public to enjoy.

Schumacher said the theater is continuing with a stream of improvements including installation of a new roof, some exterior work and a new Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant restroom. Schumacher said the goal is to provide access for anyone that would like to visit the theater.

“Our goal is to make the place open and not have any barriers for anybody that’s trying or wanting to come. We’re working on achieving that,” he said.

Some new additions to the theater include a refreshment area for snacks and beverages, a new gift shop, and a theater box office where show tickets are sold.

For more information or to obtain tickets for shows, call 740-213-5757 or visit the theater’s Facebook page, which has a list of upcoming events.