Special Bluegrass Events This Summer

It’s  shaping up to be a great summer for bluegrass music. As we go to press for July, we just completed the annual Father’s Day Grass Valley Festival, held by the California Bluegrass Association (CBA) in Grass Valley, California. While a bit of a distance from San Diego, many local bluegrassers were in attendance and enjoyed wonderful music in the beautiful pine tree-studded area. Read more about it here: https://californiabluegrass.org/cbaevent/fathers-day-festival/.

Coming up this month on Saturday July 6, is Bluegrass Day at the Del Mar Fair. We’ll be on the beautiful Paddock Stage from 11 am to 5 pm, featuring a youth performance, four performing bands, Emma’s Gut Bucket Band with the Old Time Fiddlers, a band scramble, and more. Here’s the schedule for the day:

BLUEGRASS DAY AT THE FAIR ON THE PADDOCK STAGE
JULY 6, 11AM TO 5PM

• 11-11:15am: Stage setup, sound check
• 11:15-11:50am: Youth performance, students, and teachers
• 11:50am -noon: Change over
• Noon-12:30pm: The Full Deck in Concert
• 12:30-12:40pm: Change over
• 12:40-1:10pm: Ash Street Ramblers in Concert
• 1:10-1:20pm: Change over
• 1:20-1:50pm:  Emma’s Gut Bucket Band and Fiddle Demo
• 1:50-2 pm: Change over
• 2- 3:30pm: Band Scramble
• 3:30-3:40pm: Change over
• 3:40-4:10pm: The Shoreline Pickers in Concert
• 4:10-4:30pm: Band Scramble Awards
• 4:30- 5pm: Drought Tolerant in Concert

If that’s not enough, the annual Summergrass Festival is just around the corner, from August 16-18. Summergrass this year features:

• John Moore and Friends
• Special Consensus
• Lorraine Jordan and Carolina Road
• Breaking Grass
• Central Valley Boys
• And several top local bands

HOW TO ENJOY A SUMMER BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL EVENT

MohaviSoul at Summergrass.

Here are some tips on how to have a great time. First, take the family or friends and make it a group experience. If you already know your bluegrass, review the lineups and pick an event that caters to your taste. Do you favor the old traditional bluegrass? Or maybe you prefer the more modern? Or maybe you want to see and hear a bit of everything.

Second, if not everyone in your group is a bluegrass fan, pick an event that offers other activities. A ticket to the Del Mar Fair is all you need to attend Bluegrass Day at the Paddock Stage, and your fair admission comes with all the fair has to offer—fair rides, flower and garden show, exhibit halls, fun zone, multiple stage events, and all the fried food you can eat!

Summergrass features not just great music but also antique farm equipment, an old school house, a small train, an operating blacksmith shop, the largest collection off looms and weavings west of the Mississippi, and lots more.

Third, bring a hat and sunscreen. For Summergrass you may want to bring a folding chair as well for the main stage audience area. For Summergrass (or to enter the band scramble at the Fair) bring your instrument and get involved in some jamming.

Finally, take note that these events are a bargain. If you plan to go to the fair this summer at some point, go on Bluegrass Day, July 6, and you get all the bluegrass at no extra charge. Attend the nonprofit Summergrass event and get more fun than you can shake a stick at for the whole family at a reasonable admission price. See the details here: https://summergrass.net/.