Another Great Summergrass Festival Graces San Diego with Top-Notch Bluegrass

John Moore & Friends on the main stage at Summergrass. Photo by David Cupp.

Summergrass took place last month on August 16-18. It was chock full of headliner bands on the main stage, endless jamming in the camping area and in every nock and cranny, a kids camp and kids main stage performance, and the “compound” sponsored by the Thursday Night Pickers going strong; music fans old and new had good times. Some of the highlights included performances by John Moore and Friends and the Special Consensus, Lorraine Jordan and Carolina Road, and Breaking Grass, along with a host of regional and local bands

But, Summergrass 2024 was a lot more than main stage shows. The host site, the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum (AGSEM), features antique farm equipment dating from 1850-1950, much of it operational. There is a period old school house, a blacksmith shop, the largest collection of weavings west of the Mississippi, a gift shop, a small train, great onsite food, and lots to do for the whole family, even for non-bluegrass fans. Let’s take a quick look at how this great event got started.

A bit of history. Pre-2003, the Old Time Banjo and Fiddle Contest had been the premier San Diego bluegrass event that ran for many years in the mountains of Julian. In 2002, leaders from the San Diego Bluegrass Society (SDBS) and the North San Diego County Bluegrass and Folk Club (NCBFC) concluded that these events had outgrown this mountain venue and started searching for a new home. Corky Shelton recommended the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum in Vista as a new venue. After inspections and discussions among AGSEM, SDBS, and NCBFC, a deal was struck to host a new nonprofit event at the AGSEM Vista facility and called it “Summergrass: Picking in Paradise,” later shorted to just “Summergrass.”

Summergrass Kids Camp performs on the main stage on Sunday with their teachers. Photo by David Cupp.

The original purpose of the Summergrass Festival as determined by the two nonprofit sponsors (SDBS and NCBFC) was multi-fold: (1) to showcase top-notch national bands on our local stage, (2) to provide a quality venue to showcase our many talented local and regional bands, (3) to start a Kids Camp to bring youngsters into the bluegrass world, (4) to provide workshops by the pros, (5) to provide opportunities for camping and jamming, and (6) to do it all at affordable prices.

As one of the original founders and as an early year Summergrass chair, I hoped in 2003 that this new event would be popular and successful. Mainly, we just wanted to hear great bluegrass music without having to travel to distant other festivals. Now, here we are in 2024 in our 22nd year and still going strong.

I’m proud to say that all our early goals for Summergrass were met and then some. In 2022, the SDBS and NCBFC transferred their nonprofit sponsorship and management of Summergrass to the nonprofit AGSEM, as the event had grown so big. For the last two years Summergrass has been an AGSEM event, supported by a Summergrass committee, by SDBS and by NCBFC.

Over its two-decade run Summergrass has survived the Covid years, rain, and other challenges, but I’m proud to stay it is going as strong as ever. If you missed it this year, Summergrass 2025 will be here again next August.