Memorial music festival to honor fallen Carson City Sheriff’s deputy

Celebrities from all over the world will gather in Carson City for the Carl Howell Memorial Music Festival.

The event is being held to honor Carson City Sheriff’s Office Deputy Carl Howell, who was killed in the line of duty Aug. 15, 2015.

“We have a fallen hero in our community and we need to show our support and make sure he’s not forgotten and his kids are taken care of,” said organizer Don Alexander. “He died protecting our community.”

“I just wanted to do something to help out because (these tragedies) aren’t supposed to happen in Carson City.”

On Saturday, patrons will get to enjoy a day of music, food and family fun. In addition to the music, there will be a kids zone with bounce houses, face painting and a video game area; food trucks; raffles and a silent auction; alcohol and more.

“I am excited for the whole thing, not just one part of it,” Alexander said. “I can’t wait to see how it unfolds.”

And there will be special guests there to participate and mingle — several sports, television and music celebrities will also be in attendance.

“I am excited to provide a great time, a great show and a great day through service and entertainment,” said Master of Ceremonies, actor Patrick Kilpatrick. “I am very pro law enforcement because a vast majority of them are the finest of us, they are the best kind of people.”

The music festival will bring celebrities from internationally recognized band the Rednex to the stars of Big Brother.

“To get all different people together, it says a lot because they are doing this for an officer they didn’t know to raise money for his children and raise awareness for the officer,” Alexander said.

For the Rednex, the festival will be their first show in the United States since their founding more than two decades ago.

“We are totally excited, it will be really cool because every crowd is so different and you never know what to expect,” said Rednex producer Pat “Ranis” Reiniz. “We have never played at this kind of event so this will be a new experience.”

“We have done over 1,000 gigs over four continents but never in the U.S., and Cotton Eye Joe was a big hit here so we wonder why have we never gone there? It is close to our heart so it has been puzzling for us, so when the chance came we did everything to make it happen.”

For the festival, the band even reproduced and shot a music video for one of their hits “Wish You Were Here” for Howell.

“I think it’s a great song and I hope that the people who listen to it will like what they hear and also because it’s dedicated to Carl’s family it’s even more meaningful,” said Rednex singer Misty Mae. “I’m excited about the event, because it’s a very special and unique festival. And I have never performed in such a festival like this before, and I think it’s a very good thing to have a festival to honor someone.”

In addition to the festival, the organizers also are hosting a Celebrity Dinner on Friday the night before the event where guests have the chance to mingle with the celebrities coming.

Alexander said he hopes they can continue the festival every year and help other families of fallen or wounded officers.

“So any first responder who dies or is injured in the line of duty in the United States can receive money from us,” Alexander said. “We hope to do this again, it just may not be for Carl next year, it may be another hero.”

Alexander is still looking for volunteers to help the day of the event. Anyone who wishes to get involved needs to be at Battle Born Haley-Davidson at 5 p.m. Thursday so everyone can go through a dry run of the event and assign positions. There also will be a planning meeting Tuesday.

The festival will be Saturday from 9 a.m. to midnight at the Battle Born Harley-Davidson. The Celebrity Dinner will be Friday from 5 to 10 p.m. at the Empire Ranch Golf Course.

Tickets for the festival are $20 and can be purchased at http://rememberdeputyhowell.com/ or at the event. Tickets for the Celebrity Dinner are $100 and can be purchased by calling Alexander at 775-400-0126.

Proceeds from the festival are being put into a trust for Howell’s children.