For 34 years BorderFest has focused on providing family fun. Every year organizers ensure that there is an ample variety of entertainment for every age, gender and genre preference. BorderFest 2010, Celebrating Australia, is no exception.

BorderFest starts on Thursday, March 4 and runs through Sunday, March 6 at the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo.

One of the entertainment highlights this year is country music star Tim McGraw, who performs Saturday, with Lady Antebellum as the opening act. The show starts at 7:30 p.m.

McGraw broke into the country scene in 1994, about four years after moving to Nashville, with the controversial hit “Indian Outlaw.” Though the song was widely regarded as insensitive to Native Americans, it made it the country Top 10 chart, and became a crossover hit on the pop top 20 chart.

In 2000, McGraw won a Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for the duet with his wife, “Let’s Make Love.”

On Sunday night, the music shifts to rock with Bret Michaels, of Poison fame, at 7 p.m. Although Michaels has led the rock band Poison for the last 20 years, he has consistently worked on special solo projects including his forthcoming highly anticipated album due out this fall.

This year the outside stage entertainment is bigger than ever, according to organizers. The outdoor area features more than 20 entertainment areas with more than 100 entertainers offering a wide variety of styles, from Tejano to country to world music.

On Friday night, Fists of Fury Boxing “Battle at BorderFest” is the main event at the arena, with eight boxing matches including two title fights. Fists of Fury starts at 7 p.m.

To tie in with the Australian theme, Fists of Fury will have a special appearance by Rocky, the boxing kangarro. Rocky will perform a comedy routine simulating a boxing match with his trainer.

Entertainment with an Australian flair will also help showcase this year’s theme of Celebrating Australia.

World music band Totemic will perform in the Action 4 News tent featuring Australian entertainers. What separates Totemic from typical world music bands is the Aboriginal didgeridoo player Wayne Warrick Williams. Other Australian-themed artists will also perform throughout the weekend.

General admission for BorderFest is $10 for adults before 4 p.m. and $12 after 4 p.m. Children under 3 are free and youngsters from 3-11 are $5 anytime. For more information and complete schedule of events visit www.borderfest.org.