This is a list of bluegrass music festivals that have Wikipedia articles or are otherwise verified by an independent, reliable, published source. This list may have some overlap with the umbrella topic list of folk festivals, and more complete overlap with list of country music festivals.
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a subgenre of country music. Bluegrass was inspired by the music of Appalachia. [1] It has mixed roots in Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and English [2] traditional music, and also later influenced by the music of African-Americans [3] through incorporation of jazz elements.
Festival name | City/Venue | Remarks |
---|---|---|
Canberra Country Blues & Roots Festival | Canberra, Australia | |
Tamworth Country Music Festival | Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia |
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This section needs additional citations for verification .(January 2016) |
Festival name | City/Venue | Country | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
Didmarton Bluegrass Festival | United Kingdom | ||
Güglinger Bluegrass Festival | Güglingen | Germany | The Güglinger Bluegrass Festival was an annual bluegrass music festival. The festival became one of the largest bluegrass festivals in Europe until it ceased after 2001. The Int. Bühler Bluegrass Festival in Bühl (Baden), Germany, can be regarded as its successor. The festival attracted major bands from the American scene like the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Country Gazette, The Tony Rice Unit, Laurie Lewis and Grant Street, and Tim O'Brien and the O'Boys. |
European World of Bluegrass | Voorthuizen | Netherlands | |
Bluegrass Beeg | Netherlands | ||
Lonesome Pine Indoor Country Festival | Sunne Värmland | Sweden [4] | Usually held in January. |
Bluegrass Outlaw Party | Club Heidegger, grote Kerkplein 70, Rotterdam | Netherlands [5] | Usually held in February. |
Gainsborough Old Time Festival | Gainsborough | United Kingdom [6] | Usually held in February. |
International Workshop of Acoustic Music | Virton | Belgium [7] | Usually held in April. |
Sore Fingers Week | Kingham | United Kingdom [8] | One week festival usually held in April |
Stage Bluegrass en Gascogne | 32330 Gondrin | France [9] | Usually held in April. |
Kilkenny Rhythm 'n' Roots Festival | Kilkenny | Ireland [10] | Roots music with an Irish and oldtime flavour |
Bordergrass Hopelands in Weobley | Herefordshire | United Kingdom [11] | |
Alie Rohling Festival "Pickers against Cancer" [12] | zaal de Loo - Looweg 38 Coevorden | Netherlands | Beneficial concert, all funds raised go to the Dutch Cancer Foundation. |
SC 40 jaar Farewell Reunion Festival | De Muzeval, Emmen | Netherlands [13] | Bluegrass & acoustic country a one-time only event to celebrate the completion of 40 years of Strictly Country magazine - European & US groups [ citation needed ] |
Venner Folk Frühling | Venne | Germany [14] | accent on folk |
13th Oldtime Music Meeting | Wippenhausen Kirchdorf | Germany [15] | Musicians only registration mandatory |
Orwell Bluegrass Festival | Orwell Crossing | United Kingdom [16] | - |
Banjoree European 5-String Banjo Meeting | Hagen | Germany [17] | Gathering of banjopickers, also with guitar and mandolin workshops. Held every second year |
International Bühl Bluegrass Festival | Bühl | Germany [18] | established 2002, city sponsorship |
Bath Americana Festival | Bath | United Kingdom [19] | - |
Red Wine Bluegrass Party | Genova | Italy [20] | two nights show featuring Red Wine with guest artists from the US |
Boe't n Deure | Odoorn | Netherlands [21] | Bluegrass concerts held in a small cafe |
Spring Bluegrass Festival | Alberswil/Willisau | Switzerland [22] | Last event 2019, now discontinued . |
Jamboree | Strakonice | Czech Republic [23] | - |
Sacrewell Spring Camp (Friends of American Oldtime Music and Dance) | Gainsborough | United Kingdom [6] | - |
EWOB Convention & Tradeshow | Voorthuizen | Netherlands [24] | about 50 bands, on 3 days, international lineup |
Coastline Bluegrass Music Event | Bryn Ffanigl Ganol Farm, Dolwen, Llanddulas, Wales | United Kingdom [25] | - |
Karl May Festival Radebeul | Radebeul | Germany [26] | celebrating bluegrass while celebrating Germany's wild west author |
Hamawé Roots Festival | Ethe/Virton | Belgium [27] [28] | on the Farm Roiseux |
GrevenGrass Bluegrassfestival | Greven | Germany [29] | - |
FBMA Spring Bluegrass Weekend (Pentecôte) | près de Rennes, à la Maison Familiale Rurale Horticole "Les Rabinardières" | France | |
Ruotsinpyhtää Bluegrass Rendezvous | Helsinki | Finland [30] | Finland's oldest bluegrass festival, first held in 1988 |
Annual La Grange Rouge Bluegrass and French Folk TRAD EN FETE | La Grange Rouge | France [31] | Usually held in June |
Big Bear Festival | De Kimme, Zuidlaren | Netherlands [32] | bluegrass & acoustic country music - European & US bands |
Banjo Jamboree | Caslav | Czech Republic | oldest running European bluegrass festival. Camping and included and international lineup |
Festival sur la Route de Tullins | Isere | France [34] | - |
Internationales Kötzer Country Music Festival | Günzhalle, 89359 Koetz | Germany [35] | - |
Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival | Westport, Co. Mayo | Ireland [36] | Established in 2007; international lineup |
Choteborský džem | Letna 255, 583 01 Chotebor +420776311290 | Czech Republic [37] | |
East Anglian Bluegrass Festival | Steeple Morden | United Kingdom [38] | Youth performances |
Haapavesi Folk Festival | Haapavesi | Finland [39] | - |
TFF Rudolstadt (roots folk world music) | Rudolstadt | Germany [40] | City organized |
Lida Country Festival | Lida | Sweden [41] | - |
Åmåls Blues Fest | Åmål | Sweden [42] | Usually held in July. |
Torsåker Bluegrass Festival | Torsaker | Sweden [43] / | - |
North Wales Bluegrass Festival | Conwy, Wales | United Kingdom [44] | established 1989 |
Munich BlueGrass Festival | Munich | Germany [45] | Music at the farm |
Bluegrass Festival Gunderinseli | Thun | Switzerland [46] | - |
Athy Bluegrass Festival | Athy | Ireland [47] | Ireland's oldest annual Bluegrass event, established 1991 |
Americana Festival | Newark | United Kingdom [48] | |
UTV Country Fest | Aura Complex Letterkenny, Donegal | Ireland [49] | - |
Nääsville Bluegrass Festival | Frölunda | Sweden [50] | |
Risor Bluegrass Festival | Risor | Norway [51] | music on stage and workshops - with workshops the week preceding the festival |
Cerexhe Festival | Cerexhe | Belgium [52] | Country, Established 1985 |
Totaalfestival | Bladel | Netherlands [53] | |
Cambridge Folk Festival | Cambridge | United Kingdom [54] | - |
Country Rendez-Vous | Craponne sur Arzon | France [55] | |
Guildtown Bluegrass Festival | Guildtown | United Kingdom [56] | - |
Lonesome Pine Festival | Canis-Lysvik | Sweden [4] | - |
La Roche International Bluegrass Festival | La Roche-sur-Foron | France [57] | - |
International Bluegrass and Acoustic Music Festival | Abaliget | Hungary | Three days of bluegrass and acoustic music on a lakeside in the Hungarian countryside. |
Surrey Mini Bluegrass Festival | Mickleham Village Hall | United Kingdom [58] | - |
Sacrewell Summer Camp (Friends Of American Oldtime Music And Dance) | Gainsborough | United Kingdom [59] | - |
Bluegrass Family Festival | Stetten | Switzerland [60] | family operated gathering place for the Swiss bluegrass community. Discontinued since 2016 |
Gränna Bluegrass Festival | Gränna | Sweden [61] | 30th anniversary in 2007 |
Floralia Country Festival | Oosterhout | Netherlands [62] | - |
Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival | Dunmore East | Ireland [63] | established 1995 |
Tønder Folk Festival | Tønder | Denmark [64] | international folk and bluegrass acts |
Didmarton Bluegrass Festival | Kemble Airfield Didmarton | United Kingdom [65] | international lineup |
Appalachian and Bluegrass Music Festival | Omagh, Northern Ireland | United Kingdom [66] | held in a historic folk park[ clarification needed ] established 1992 international lineup |
Bluegrass Marathon | Borovany u Tachova | Czech Republic [67] | established 1979 |
Picnic Festival | Namur | Belgium [68] | Bluegrass & Celtic Festival |
Int. Bluegrass Meeting Kulturgewächshaus Birkenried | Gundelfingen | Germany [35] | Music in the Greenhouse |
Sunny Mountain Bluegrass Festival | Stettfurt | Switzerland [69] | |
The Open House Festival | Bangor, Northern Ireland | United Kingdom [70] | Six days of roots music in the centre of Belfast |
Gower Bluegrass Festival | Parkmill, Gower, Wales | United Kingdom [71] | - |
Sweet Sunny South Festival | Hastings | United Kingdom [72] | - |
Cornish Bluegrass Festival | Newquay | United Kingdom [73] | since 2004 |
Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival | Longford | Ireland [74] | Irish Traditional, American Bluegrass, and Folk Music |
Moniaive Michaelmas Bluegrass Festival | Moniaive, Dumfries, Scotland | United Kingdom [75] | - |
Bruff Bluegrass Festival | Main St, Bruff, Co. Limerick | Ireland [76] | This event takes place in three venues over three evenings with late night mike sessions. Banjo and guitar workshops and picking gatherings in afternoon on Sunday. |
Pick Your Passion Camp Munich Aschau/Chiemgau, | n/Munich | Germany [77] | - |
Sore Fingers Weekend | Kingham | United Kingdom [8] | learning music and jamming |
Bluegrass Beeg | Grevenbicht Sittard-Geleen | Netherlands [78] | Bluegrass music festival. Autism friendly . |
Old Time Country Festival | Breitisaal 8185 Winkel | Switzerland [79] | organized by American folk club Rocking Chair |
"World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical category pose obstacles to a universal definition, but its ethic of interest in the culturally exotic is encapsulated in Roots magazine's description of the genre as "local music from out there".
Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like mainstream country music, it largely developed out of old-time music, though in contrast to country, it is traditionally played exclusively on acoustic instruments and also kept its roots in traditional English, Scottish and Irish ballads and dance tunes, as well as incorporating blues and jazz. It was further developed by musicians who played with Monroe, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt. Monroe characterized the genre as "Scottish bagpipes and ole-time fiddlin'. It's a part of Methodist, Holiness and Baptist traditions. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound."
Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. He won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His fingerpicking and flatpicking skills, as well as his knowledge of traditional American music, were highly regarded. Blind from a young age, he performed publicly both in a dance band and solo, as well as for over 15 years with his son, guitarist Merle Watson, until Merle's death in 1985 in an accident on the family farm.
Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, playing music from bluegrass, jazz, classical, rock and various world music genres. He is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Fleck has won 17 Grammy Awards and been nominated 39 times.
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, contra dance, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle and plucked string instruments, most often the banjo, guitar, and mandolin. Together, they form an ensemble called the string band, which along with the simple banjo-fiddle duet have historically been the most common configurations to play old-time music. The genre is considered a precursor to modern country music.
The music of Wyoming includes a number of well-regarded music festivals, as well as a heritage that includes Native American, European, and American music.
Hayseed Dixie is an American band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2000. Their first album was A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC. The band performs bluegrass cover versions of hard rock songs and also original songs of a mostly satirical or absurdist nature in a self-created musical genre which the band calls "rockgrass." The band's name is a linguistic play on the name of the band AC/DC.
Charles Samuel Bush is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Revival. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame a second time in 2023 as a solo artist.
Mike Seeger was an American folk musician and folklorist. He was a distinctive singer and an accomplished musician who mainly played autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, harmonica, mandolin, dobro, jaw harp, and pan pipes. Seeger, a half-brother of Pete Seeger, produced more than 30 documentary recordings, and performed in more than 40 other recordings. He desired to make known the caretakers of culture that inspired and taught him. He was posthumously inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2018.
Delano Floyd McCoury is an American bluegrass musician. As leader of the Del McCoury Band, he plays guitar and sings lead vocals along with his two sons, Ronnie McCoury and Rob McCoury, who play mandolin and banjo respectively. In June 2010, he received a National Heritage Fellowship lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts and in 2011 he was elected into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.
Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, within the Thuringian Forest, to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north.
The Rudolstadt-Festival is a German folk, roots and world music festival. It takes place annually on the first full July weekend in Rudolstadt/Thuringia and lasts from Thursday evening to Sunday night. Until 2010 it was preceded by a special concert on Thursday evening at the Heidecksburg-castle and started officially on Friday evening at the market place of Rudolstadt.
The Waybacks are an American four-piece band based in the San Francisco Bay area of California. Their style has been alternately described as Americana, Progressive bluegrass, rock-n-roll, folk, and acoustic mayhem. They described themselves as a "power trio with a fiddler" in an interview with NPR.
Old timefiddle is the style of American fiddling found in old-time music. Old time fiddle tunes are derived from European folk dance forms such as the jig, reel, breakdown, schottische, waltz, two-step, and polka. When the fiddle is accompanied by banjo, guitar, mandolin, or other string instruments, the configuration is called a string band. The types of tunes found in old-time fiddling are called "fiddle tunes", even when played by instruments other than a fiddle.
Bluegrass fiddling is a distinctive style of American fiddle playing which is characterized by bold, bluesy improvisation, off-beat "chopping", and sophisticated use of both double-stops and old-time bowing patterns.
Rhiannon Giddens is an American musician known for her eclectic folk music. She is a founding member of the country, blues, and old-time music band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, where she was the lead singer, fiddle player, and banjo player.
Broom Bezzums is a folk music duo formed in Germany in October 2005, by Mark Bloomer and Andrew Cadie.