The bluegrass style of music was born out of rural Appalachia. Folks around the hills and hollers would gather and have fellowship bringing with them their stringed instruments.
These traditions are still carried on in these parts today. Many of these bluegrass pickers went on to influence country music like Roy Acuff from Maynardville. Roy was a fiddle player and singer that became one of the founders of the Grand Ole Opry.
Since about 1981, Big Ridge State Park has been holding a bluegrass festival on the thrid Friday of August to showcase the talent that resides in these parts.
Different bluegrass bands play 30-minute sets that usually start around 6:30 p.m. and play until about 10 or 11 at night. The coronavirus caused the park to cancel last year’s festival due to safety and uncertainty of the virus. The park has decided that the outdoor event is a safe environment to bring back the tradition of bluegrass.
Past festivals been quite popular. Sometimes when the weather was good the park would see as many as 1500 people. Judging by the traffic in the park in the last year I would say that this year will be a big year if we get good weather. Folks have not had to opportunity to get out with so many events canceled. People have missed their annual events and will probably see a surge of attendance at these events.
Big Ridge State Park is free for day use. Likewise, the bluegrass festival is a free event. We have had some of the best bluegrass musicians around these parts play music for our event. All the musicians play out of the goodness of their hearts and for the sake of keeping a tradition alive.
It’s a family-friendly event that has been going on for a few generations now. I have heard many stories of the park having square dances and picking and dancing events on summer weekends. Bluegrass music in state parks has been tradition from the start. Many other parks have similar events like Norris Dam State Park has a Pickin in the Park that is usually a Friday night in October.
We hope you plan to attend this year’s Big Ridge Bluegrass Festival. This year it will be on August 20. Everyone who can carpool should, due to limited parking for this event. The event is free but bring folding chairs and some cash money if you would like to buy some snacks, drinks, or souvenirs. We look forward to seeing y’all.