MARION — Alternative pop/rock band Gin Blossoms and southern rockers the Georgia Satellites have been named as the headliners for the 37th Marion Popcorn Festival.

Gin Blossoms will take the main stage on Friday, Sept. 8 and Georgia Satellites are set for Saturday, Sept. 9. Both performances begin at 8:30 p.m. and are free to festival attendees.

The main stage lineup for Thursday, Sept. 7’s Bike Nite will feature The Prince Experience, a Prince Tribute Band, at 8:30 p.m., with classic rock/blues band Reckless Abandonment opening at 6 p.m. Thursday night’s main stage is sponsored by Mennel Popcorn and these shows are free of charge.

Gin Blossoms. Originally scheduled for 2007, Gin Blossoms was the only act in the 37-year history of the Marion Popcorn Festival to get rained out. They will now also be known as the only band to get a repeat invitation for the main stage of the Marion Popcorn Festival.

Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, The Georgia Satellites are best known for their 1986 debut hit, “Keep Your Hands to Yourself.” The song reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 that year, topped only by Bon Jovi’s “Living’ on a Prayer”. MTV ran the video in heavy rotation and the music video earned a Best Art Director award at the MTV Video Music Awards.

The Prince Experience – Prince Tribute Band. Gabriel Sanchez has been portraying Prince since 2002. He began in a small, local theatre production of Purple Rain and, following the success of that effort, expanded the performance into a full-fledged tribute to Prince.

Sanchez and his band perform all of Prince’s hits, with songs like “Little Red Corvette,” “1999,” “Raspberry Beret,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” “When Doves Cry,” and, of course, the iconic song from which this tribute band took their name, “Purple Rain.”

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