Telluride Bluegrass Festival is an annual music festival in Telluride, Colorado hosted by Planet Bluegrass. Although traditionally the festival focuses on bluegrass music,Herbert, Kiran. "Telluride Bluegrass Festival 2014". Relix, 3 July 2014. it often features music from a variety of related genres.
History The town of Telluride had for many years held a Fourth of July Celebration which had its roots in the early mining days of Telluride, when miners would come from down from the mountains to party and meet up with old friends and meet some women. The celebration included a fireworks display operated by the local fire department. In 1972, the Telluride Ski Resort opened, and the Town of Telluride expanded the Celebration and advertised it widely in all the surrounding states. Among the new attendees were many who behaved badly, starting fights and causing damage; in response, the Town decided to call off the celebration for 1973.
A small group of friends convinced the Town to let them organized the 1973 event. The traditional rowdy events were replaced with games in the park for children, a picnic and barbeque. A stage was built at the far end of Town Park, and after a parade and an afternoon of family fun, the Fall Creek Boys, a local bluegrass band, took the stage to entertain the crowd, followed by the traditional fireworks display."Telluride Bluegrass Festival " . US News: Travel.
Encouraged by the success of the 1973 celebration, the first Telluride Bluegrass Festival was organized in Telluride in 1974 by John Herndon, J.B. & Helen Matiotti, Kooster McAllister, and Fred Shellman, who played in the Fall Creek Boys. That year the festival attracted approximately 1000 participants.
The festival became an annual event with attendance capped at 10,000. According to the Library of Congress, the 1980 performance was filmed by Boulder public television and two CDs were made available.
The management of the Bluegrass Festival has changed five times since its inception and is currently managed by Craig Ferguson of Planet Bluegrass."The Best Bluegrass of 2014". Pop Matters, Steve Leftridge, 25 December 2014"Bluegrass visionary brings his innovation to Colorado". Denver Post. By Claire Martin | July 4, 2009
Although it has been remodeled several times, the stage is still in the original spot, as are the concession stands."Iconic Telluride Town Park Stage Gets a Reboot". Curbed, Megan Barber @megcbarber May 5, 2016
Since at least 2013, capacity has been set at 12,000 per day (48,000 total over the four days of the festival).Slosson, Mary. "Maximum capacity crowd for 2015 Bluegrass Festival" Telluride Daily Planet, Oct. 29, 2104"Bush, Musgraves, Keen Make for Eclectic Telluride Bluegrass Festival". Rolling Stone, Kiran Herbert June 22, 2015
In 2013 the festival was impacted by flooding, but returned to its former condition in 2014.
In 2015 the festival's official name is the Telluride Bluegrass and Country Music Festival.
There was no festival in 2020.
Acts Notable performers have included Tenacious D, Greensky Bluegrass, Tyler Childers, Kacey Musgraves, Johnny Cash, Sam Bush, Elvis Costello, David Byrne, John Fogerty, Bruce Cockburn, Joan Armatrading, Jackson Browne, Jesse Winchester, Levon Helm, Russell Smith, Shawn Colvin, Steve Earle, Darrell Scott, David Crosby/CPR, Linda Ronstadt, Steve Winwood, Chris Daniels & The Kings, Bill Monroe, Nanci Griffith, Mark O'Conner, Dixie Chicks, String Cheese Incident, New Monsoon, Sharon Gilchrist, Railroad Earth, New Grass Revival, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, John Prine, Nickel Creek, Yonder Mountain String Band, Mumford & Sons, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, Peter Rowan, Leftover Salmon, Béla Fleck, Chris Thile, Sara Watkins, Noam Pikelny, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Tim O'Brien, Counting Crows, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Hot Rize, the Del McCoury Band, Brandi Carlile, Powder Ridge, Janelle Monae, Dierks Bentley, Norah Jones, Parker Millsap, and Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, to name a few. The Telluride house band consists of Sam Bush on mandolin, Béla Fleck on banjo, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Jerry Douglas on Dobro, Edgar Meyer on upright Bass, and Bryan Sutton on guitar. The 2007 Michelle Shocked gospel CD, ToHeavenURide was recorded live at the Festival.
Band contest One of the features of the festival is a band contest. Twelve bands are given slots in the competition. Judges rate the bands and the top four go to the main stage to compete before the crowd.
Past winners include: 1985 - Blitz Creek 1986 - Loose Ties (Runners-up Blue Plate Special) 1988 - Titan Valley Warheads 1989 - Powder Ridge 1990 - Dixie Chicks 1991 - Meighan Edmonson Mittelmeier Band 1992 - Sugarbeat 1993 - String Fever 1994 - Salt Licks 1995 - Magraw Gap 1996 - Cornbread Sally 1997 - Ryan Shupe & Rubberband 1998 - Floodplain Gang 1999 - Pagosa Hot Strings 2000 - Clear Blue 2001 - Bearfoot Bluegrass 2002 - South Austin Jug Band 2003 - Hit & Run Bluegrass 2004 - Burnett Family Bluegrass Band 2005 - The Badly Bent 2006 - Greensky Bluegrass 2007 - Spring Creek Bluegrass Band 2008 - Blue Canyon Boys 2009 - The Hillbenders 2010 - Nora Jane Struthers & the Bootleggers 2011 - Run Boy Run 2012 - BlueBilly Grit 2013 - Front Country 2014 - Trout Steak Revival 2015 - The Lil' Smokies 2016 - Fireball Mail 2017 - Sugar and the Mint : sugarandthemint.com 2018 - Wood Belly 2019 - Bowregard 2022 - Full Cord 2023 - The Fretliners 2024 - Still House String Band 2025 - Rachael Sumner & Travelin Light
Book Dan Sadowsky, Telluride's Emcee for twenty nine years as "Pastor Mustard", has written a book about the festival. It is entitled Telluride Bluegrass Festival — 40 Years of Festivation.Miller, Matt. "Telluride Bluegrass Festival 2014: Adding to four decades of stories". The Denver Post.
See also Live at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival Too Late to Turn Back Now Leftover Salmon: Thirty Years of Festival! List of bluegrass music festivals List of jam band music festivals
References
External links
Entry at the Library of Congress Local newspaper Telluride Tourism Board Official Site Telluride Visitor Information Telluride Lodging