Friends Don’t Let Friends Start Bluegrass Festivals…Or Do They?

The Challenges of Running and Starting a Bluegrass Festival After over thirty years of attending bluegrass festivals, more than once we have heard the saying, “Friends don’t let friends start bluegrass festivals.” While it is meant playfully, we wondered if there is some truth in it and decided to look at the complexity of starting and sustaining a popular festival. To do that, we contacted bluegrass festival promoters in the industry, veterans and novices, to find out what kinds of challenges they faced when they began their festivals and how those challenges have shifted over the years. These challenges include all aspects of running a festival and highlight the stark differences in starting a festival in the 1980’s versus starting one 2023. At the end of the day, we might say that it takes the support of a lot of really good friends and family to start a bluegrass festival! You decide. The first promoters we spoke with are now in their 43rd year of running The Thomas P