Big Ridge State Park’s 35th Annual Music Festival was held on August 16, 2019 from 4pm-9:30 pm.

If you ask me, Big Ridge State Park is an excellent place to host a Bluegrass Music Festival. It lies somewhere between Rocky Top and the Great Smoky Mountains inside of Union County, Tennessee.

Union County has long been known as the “Cradle of Country Music”. A county that Roy Acuff, Chet Atkins, and Lois Johnson all once called home. There may be a few other famous country singers with roots in Union County. You only need to visit some of the local churches to get an idea of the talent in the county. So, it’s no wonder that the many local bluegrass & bluegrass gospel bands that played at Big Ridge State Park’s 35th Annual Music Festival were such an awesome treat to the ears!

My family has a love for music, especially my Dad who is able to play several musical instruments at least a little. Although, he has never played at the festival he usually does attend. Some of my extended family members have played at the music festival in past years. So, when a friend of ours reminded us of the festival we were eager to make plans to attend. Aside from all that, our friends were working in one of the food fundraisers tents to raise money for the Union County High School FAA.

My husband and I did not arrive until about the seven o’clock hour. Of course, our first stop was to visit with our friends and to purchase food. I was feeling my inner child and decided to have a funnel cake before ordering my dinner. I sat up my bag chair underneath the big oak tree while I let the funnel cake covered in powdered sugar melt in my mouth with the bluegrass music still tickling my ears. (Kudos to the Funnel Cake cook!) My husband setup his bag chair next to mine and enjoyed his Petro. He also enjoyed some homemade potato chips smothered in creamy cheddar cheese and BBQ Pork sandwiches that he purchased from one of the other food vendors. I snagged one of the BBQ sandwiches to save my husband from hurting himself too badly. The popcorn and lemonade looked good, but I was not able to sample everything.

Once we had our bellies full, we moved our bag chairs closer to the front and center of the stage to sit with my sister and her family. This way we could get a better look and most of all could hear better! We enjoyed listening to all the bands that played. One of our favorites was Stock Creek {see photo} which played songs like “The Little Country Church House” and “Bury me Beneath the Weeping Willow Tree”.

I would highly recommend this annual music festival which usually occurs the third Friday in August. So, for anyone who enjoys good bluegrass music and good food this is a great spot to bring your bag chair and rest for a while. The park is sitting along-side Norris Lake and has campgrounds with RV hookups, tent sites, and cabin rentals. You will also find picnic tables, kayak and canoe rentals, hiking trails, tennis courts, a playground, etc.

On our way home we spotted a rather large possum in our headlights. My husband commented that nobody had played the 5-pound possum song. He pulled over as soon as he could to search for the song on youtube so he could play it for me as we drove home from our bluegrass evening. As Bugs Bunny was so famous for saying, That’s all folks!