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And what started as a way to bring the community around the golf course back together after a tumultuous period under the golf club’s previous owners has evolved into an economic boom for the area ... and the beginnings of what has fast become a destination music festival.

“We’re getting a lot more people from Phoneix, San Diego, Vegas,� said Rich Elias, the club’s general manager. “We never anticipated it to be the event it turned into. We thought we would bring in a couple of local bands and put on a barbecue.�

But once the club partnered with the Tucson I Heart Radio stations — the country station 97.1 The Bull and the pop station My 92.9 — the little community event became a big community party.

The lineup every year has featured local acts, including Oro Valley’s own Kaylor Cox, who performed her first true career concert at last year’s festival.

She returns to open the festival Saturday, Sept. 30, on a lineup anchored by Lee Brice. Others on the country bill include Jana Kramer and Michael Ray (see related story).

Day 2, Sunday, Oct. 1, features headliner Train and reggae-rock-rapper Michael Franti & Spearhead (see related story).

“I’m so excited for people at the Oro Valley Music Festival who were there last year to see my improvement,� said Cox, 20, who in the year since the 2016 festival has opened shows for big name country artists such as Kane Brown, the Eli Young Band and country diva Martina McBride at Fox Tucson Theatre. “Even my band, we’re so much tighter and so much more confident. I just feel so comfortable on stage.�

If the numbers grow as organizers anticipate, Cox could be standing before an audience of at least 7,000 — the number who attended the country day last year — when she takes the stage at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Doors open at 12:30 p.m. each day and the festival continues until 9:30 p.m. on Saturday and 9 p.m. on Sunday, Elias said.

Attendance on the pop music day last year was 5,000 and Elias said he expects that number will jump this year, as well.

“What we’re most pleased about is that the artists we’re bringing in are great for all ages. The range of customer that we feel like we cater to is literally 15 to 65,� Elias said. “There’s something for everybody here.�

Elias said the festival is having an economic impact on Oro Valley largely driven by out-of-town visitors who make a weekend out of the event. During the first festival, which was only one day, area hotels and restaurants racked up $4.2 million in sales. The impact grew to $6 million last year, when the festival was expanded to two days.

In addition to Saturday’s show, Cox will perform several small gigs this fall before moving to Nashville at year’s end to work with Tucson native Troy Olson, a respected Nashville songwriter.