Over the next 24 hours, a downtown Fort Dodge intersection will transform into a sold-out concert venue.

A crowd of 5,000 people will gather Saturday evening for the Downtown Country Jam featuring Trace Adkins.

Saturday’s show is the first Downtown Country Jam to be a sell-out since the concert series debuted in 2017.

A total of 5,000 tickets have been sold.

Jim Reed, the president of Shellabration Inc., the volunteer group which organizes the concerts, said no other Downtown Country Jam has come close to selling out.

The biggest previous crowd was the 4,553 who came to hear Josh Turner in 2023.

“The artist will always make the biggest difference in mass appeal,” he said.

Adkins, he said, has “celebrity star status” due to his long run of hits and his TV appearances.

Reed added that having this year’s concert in August instead of September likely contributed to the sell-out.

Adkins has sold more than 11 million albums with 40 songs making the charts. His hits include “Every Light in the House,” “This Ain’t (No Thinkin’ Thing),” and “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.”

Jared Benson, of Fort Dodge, will be the opening act. He has released an album called “Save My Soul.”

The Boys, a band from southeastern Iowa led by two brothers, will also perform. The band recently released an album called “Seeing Double.”

While some barricades and generators were moved into position Thursday, the real work of creating the venue where singers and country music fans will come together takes place today.

“We refer to it as organized chaos,” Reed said.

The intersection was to be closed at 8:30 a.m. today.

The main 34-by-24-foot section of the stage will be delivered in a single semi-trailer. Additional staging will be built on either side of that.

Gates will open at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

Reed said concert-goers can bring one sealed 24-ounce bottle of water with them.