The Venue

All photos Courtesy of Ross Willits, Executive Director of the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-Time Association

45th Annual Minnesota Bluegrass Festival

Making Changes to Become Much More Than Just a Main Stage Event Tucked away in the Upper Midwest, just 90 miles from Minneapolis and due west of the massive and beautiful inland sea known as Lake Superior, the small town of Richmond has been the home of the Minnesota Bluegrass Festival for the last 23…

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Mike Clark Memorial Scholarship and the Oklahoma International Bluegrass Fest Help Bluegrass Students Achieve Their Dreams

Photos By Cassidy Wayant Photography In many parts of the country, the wonderful roots music genre known as bluegrass continues to flourish due to targeted efforts to keep the music alive and flowing into the future. In some states, it is the Junior Appalachians Musicians program that facilitates the teaching of over 1,000 students in…

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Preserving & Presenting the First Family of Country Music

Photos by Jack Bernhardt It’s 3 p.m on a comfortably warm October 4, 2024. Rita Forrester is hard at work, getting food and concessions in order before fans arrive for the evening’s show featuring Marty Stuart and the Tennessee Mafia Jug Band. Tonight’s concert is part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Carter Family…

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The Persistence of Brick and Mortar

Photos by Elizabeth Harris Photography For the last 45 years Fret Mill Music (www.fretmill.com) has been a continual and stable presence in the Roanoke bluegrass music community. While the internet age now enables us to order anything from anywhere with the click of a button, finding a music shop that still encourages a hands-on approach…

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photos and article By derek halsey

A Direct Report From Ground Zero in the Thousand Year Storm

After Hurricane Helene Hit The Mountains, The IBMA Trust Fund and The Bluegrass Community Took Action It is not every day that Chinook helicopters land in the mountains of Western North Carolina delivering much-needed supplies to a disaster zone, but that is what happened when Hurricane Helene struck the Nature Coast of Florida and then…

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2025 Festival Guide

United States Arizona  Desert Bluegrass FestivalMarch 7-9, 2025 Gladden Farms Community Park12205 N Tangerine Farms RdMarana, Arizona 85653 520-245-6126desertbluegrass.org/marana-festival-2019 Pickin’ in the Pines Bluegrass Music Festival September 12-14, 2025 250 Garrison RdFlagstaff, Arizona 86005pickininthepines.org Arkansas Mountain View Fall  Bluegrass FestivalNovember 6-8, 2025 1032 Park AveMountain View, Arkansas 72211501-350-9676mountainviewbluegrass.com California  Parkfield Bluegrass FestivalMay 8-11, 2024 70410 Parkfield-Coalinga…

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