There’ll Be Pickin’ and Grinnin’ Galore at 47th Delaware Valley Blue Grass Festival
What’s “bluegrass” music? Ask five bluegrass players and you’ll get five different answers, a reflection of just how subjective that question really is. Traditionalists will tell you bluegrass is what Bill Monroe and Flatt and Scruggs produced in the 1940s and ‘50s – music performed by a band with guitar, upright bass, mandolin, fiddle, and banjo, featuring “high lonesome” three-part singing.
One thing is for certain. Whatever your definition of bluegrass, you are sure to find it at the 47th Annual Delaware Valley Blue Grass Festival, which will be staged August 31-September 2, 2018, at the Salem County Fairgrounds, 735 Harding Highway, Woodstown, NJ 08098.
Weekend tickets at the Gate, which opens at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, August 29, 2018, are $115 for Adults, $100 for Seniors (ages 62 and up) and $60 Student (ages 12-16). Single day tickets for Friday and Saturday are $55 for Adults, $50 for Seniors (ages 62 and up) and $35 for Students (ages 12-16) each day. Sunday single day tickets are $45 for Adults, $40 for Seniors (ages 62 and up) and $35 for Students (ages 12-16). Children under 12 accompanied by an adult ticket holder are free at all times. For tickets and information, visit delawarevalleybluegrass.org/admission/ or call 856-765-0118.
Founded by the Brandywine Friends of Old Time Music, the inaugural Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival was staged over Labor Day Weekend in 1972. Since that time, it has grown to become one of the nation’s premier Bluegrass events.
The Main Stage is the festival’s main event. Hot Rize will be featured on Friday, August 31, from 9:35 p.m. to 11:05 p.m.; Jerry Douglas Presents the Earls of Leicester headlines Saturday, September 1 from 9:40 p.m. to 11:10 a.m.; and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver will bring down the curtain Sunday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Main Stage performances will be held throughout all three days starting at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Noon on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday.
In addition to the Main Stage performances, there’s a Children’s Stage with shows Friday and Saturday at 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. There’s also the Jam Central Station, which is open to anyone who wants to showcase their talents, a Clogging Workshop hosted by FiddleKicks on both Friday and Saturday at 3 p.m., as well as a Pete Wernick Jam Class. The jam class is $70 in advance and $75 at the festival, and runs for six hours, two hours each morning on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. You can also register for single classes at $30 each.
So, this Labor Day Weekend, make sure to head out to Woodstown and the Salem County Fairgrounds for some great Blue Grass Music and Entrainment!
