300 people taken to medical tent day one of ‘Rock the Country’ music festival

BOYD COUNTY, Ky. (WOWK) — The Rock the Country music festival in Boyd County, Kentucky, is entering its second day, but the first day saw a number of issues related to high temperatures.

Ashland – Boyd County – Catlettsburg Emergency Management said in a post on Facebook Saturday that more than 300 people were taken to the medical tent on the first day of the festival, most of which were for heat-related illnesses.

The intense heat was forewarned by the Boyd County Emergency Management Office going into the festival. They told 13 News part way into the first day that just an hour and a half in, the medical tent already saw “30 to 40 to 50 heat exhaustions.”

“There is very little shade inside the RTC venue… the forecasted Heat Index is 99F-100F,” Ashland – Boyd County – Catlettsburg Emergency Management said about Saturday’s venue in a later post.

They said people should start hydrating early in the morning and continue throughout the day.