The band will be performing at the Harlan & Hazel Rogers Sports Complex on July 8.

Jim Reed, president of Shellabration Inc., called the announcement of the band as the headliner “an early Christmas present.”

Having been to a Huey Lewis & the News concert before, Reed said there is one word he uses to describe the atmosphere at their shows.

“Party,” Reed said. “It’s upbeat. There’s not a single dark side to the music at all. It’s just a vibrant, upbeat, party-type atmosphere.”

“It’s hard to be down during a Huey Lewis song,” he added. “You have to work at it.”

Organizers are happy to have the band perform at next year’s Shellabration.

Incoming Shellabration Vice President Ted Bodensteiner said having Huey Lewis & the News perform at the show provides a unique opportunity for the Fort Dodge area.

“It’s a new band for us,” Bodensteiner said. “It’s a band that a lot of people like. They’ve got a big following on the west coast and they haven’t toured around Iowa a whole lot.”

Reed agreed.

“That’s the beauty of the past three years for Shellabration,” he said. “Between Lynyrd Skynyrd, Boston, Steve Miller Band, we’ve had the good fortune of not having artists that have played the state fair and other venues within recent history, if not many, many years.”

Besides the headliner, Reed said there will be two opening acts from the Fort Dodge region.

Though organizers haven’t announced who those bands will be, Bodensteiner said seeing those opening acts perform is one of Shellabration Inc.’s favorite traditions.

“As organizers, we get to live their excitement vicariously,” he said. “I think people are going to be excited when we make the announcement in January.”

Reed added organizers are also excited that Shellabration will be held on a Saturday this year.

This is the first time since 2013, when Styx performed at the Oleson Park Bandshell, that Shellabration will be held on a Saturday. And according to Reed, this is the first time a Saturday show will be held at Rogers Sports Complex.

He said organizers always aim to hold the concert on Saturday, but that isn’t always possible due to the traveling schedule of the bands.

Because the show is on Saturday, Reed said he’s hoping to see more than 7,000 people at the show. Since 2014, every Shellabration has had more than 7,000 in attendance.

That included last year’s Shellabration with the Steve Miller Band, which was held on a Thursday night.

“Despite the weeknight event last summer, we still managed to attract just over 7,100 attendees,” Reed said. “It was our third straight year of attendance in excess of 7,000.”

Huey Lewis & the News broke onto the music scene in 1982 with the album “Picture This,” according to information provided by Reed.

Two years later, their album “Sports” hit No. 1 and had multiplatinum success with a string of its, including “Heart and Soul,” “I Want a New Drug,” “The Heart of Rock & Roll,” and “If This is It.”

Additionally, their song “The Power of Love” became a No. 1 hit in 1985 after it was used in the movie “Back to the Future.” Lewis himself had a cameo in the movie. The band also contributed the song “Back in Time” for the movie.

In all, the band has had 16 Top 10 hits, including “Stuck With You,” “Jacob’s Ladder,” and “Hip to be Square.”

Tickets for Shellabration will go on sale March 25 at midnight. They will be $36 in advance and increase to $45 beginning June 19 and leading up to the show on July 8.

They will be available locally at Hy-Vee, with more local retailers being announced at a later date. They can also be purchased online at ticketweb.com or by calling (866) 468-3401.