Picking up the bluegrass banner: New music festival coming to Lexington

For audiences wondering if summer string music will ever return to the Kentucky Horse Park, take heart: Live bluegrass, which has long been a mid-June festival tradition in Lexington, is on its way back. You will just need to wait until next year.

A new bluegrass festival has been confirmed for June 8-10, 2023, at the Horse Park. Titled Spirit of the Bluegrass, it will fill the space and time usually occupied by the now-inactive Festival of the Bluegrass.

Organized by Kentucky natives Sam Karr and Rick Greene, who have overseen the popular SamJam Bluegrass Festival in Piketon, Ohio, the new event will bear many of the earmarks that made the Festival of the Bluegrass a beacon of string music gatherings. The latter was staged by the Cornett family for 46 years until being silenced in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our regard for the Cornett family could not be any higher given what it has done for bluegrass music and for bluegrass festivals,” Greene said. “With bluegrass festivals, the scene is unique. There is nothing like it in any genre. The Cornett family were forerunners in establishing that culture, so we cannot say enough good things about what (Festival of the Bluegrass co-founders) Bob and Jean Cornett initiated and their family continued for many years. All we’re hoping is to now continue with a festival and in some way pay honor to all the work and dedication that family gave.”

End of Festival of the Bluegrass

The Festival of the Bluegrass’ initial closure in 2020 wasn’t intended to be permanent. Most concerts and music festivals were called off that summer, a time when COVID-related lockdowns were at their height. The event was called off again in 2021 due to safety concerns still related to the pandemic.

But this year, the shutdown became indefinite. Roy (grandson of Bob and Jean) and AnnaMarie Cornett, who have piloted the Festival of the Bluegrass in recent years, stated on the event’s website, “The COVID-19 pandemic has affected individuals and communities in different ways and our personal circumstances are such that we do not have the bandwidth to make this event happen.”

“Bandwidth,” in this instance, is a combination of physical and financial resources.

“It’s all of that,” Roy Cornett said. “The festival has never been a money-making operation. It has been something that we do for the love of that community and our family.

“If COVID had never happened, there would have been a Festival of the Bluegrass last weekend. There is no doubt in my mind about that. The momentum alone would have kept it going. One of the things COVID did was it made society as a whole kind of stop and re-evaluate how you’re doing things and why you’re doing things. Same applied for the Festival of the Bluegrass.”

When Horse Park officials contacted Karr and Greene about starting a new festival, the two eagerly signed on. For Karr, the Festival of the Bluegrass was practically part of his DNA. He attended the event every year since its inception in 1974.

“I was at Masterson Station (Park) with my father when I was 10 years old and that was the first year they had it,” Karr said. “When it switched over to the Horse Park, we never missed it. When I was in college, I always went. It was just a really special time and place for me. Never in a million years did I ever think I would get a chance to have anything to do with a festival out there. Everything I know about bluegrass came from the Horse Park.”

How Spirit of the Bluegrass will differ from Festival of the Bluegrass

While Karr and Greene will be using the next year to fully design Spirit of the Bluegrass, enlist sponsors and book artists, they said several key designs of the Festival of the Bluegrass will be adopted, beginning with its weekend running schedule along a Thursday, Friday and Saturday timeline. Karr also confirmed that the Seldom Scene, the veteran band that was a performance fixture at the Festival of the Bluegrass, will play at the new event. Sunday morning gospel performances that traditionally closed the Festival of the Bluegrass, however, will not be part of Spirit of the Bluegrass.

“We would be crazy not to keep the great things about the Festival of the Bluegrass,’ Karr said. “You don’t go on for 46 years by accident and we know that. So we’re definitely going to pay tribute by keeping some of the traditions going that made Festival of the Bluegrass great. Still, we’ve found some things in this first six or seven years of SamJam that might help bring in a younger audience. You have to have that. But a lot of people will expect some of the same things, and they’ll get that.”

Similarities aside, Spirit of the Bluegrass is not a continuation or revamped version of the Festival of the Bluegrass. It is an entirely new event. While its debut won’t be until June 2023, its organizers said every bit of time between now and then will be needed to get Spirit of the Bluegrass on its feet.

“The fact of the matter is this is a start-up project, so we have many challenges,” Greene said. “We have a lot of things that have to fall into place for us to be able to put this festival on solid ground and have some longevity. There’s a business aspect to this that is daunting. We took two years to plan the first SamJam Bluegrass Festival and it’s now an IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) award-winning festival. We don’t have that luxury with this event. I will tell you, though, the response we have gotten so far from people has been tremendous. The feedback has been very positive. I think people are hungry for a bluegrass festival to come back to Lexington.

“We really feel like there is a responsibility here, not only to continue with a bluegrass festival, but to continue it the right way. The right way to run a festival is kind of in the eyes of the beholder. For us, there are a few things that are automatic. We’re going to keep people safe. We’re going to bring the best entertainment there is to the festival. We’re going to create a festive environment. We’re going to make sure when people walk out the door, they feel like they got their money’s worth. That’s been our standard and that’s going to be our model in Lexington.”

How does the family that started the bluegrass festival tradition in Lexington feel about a succeeding event taking the reins next June?

“There is definitely no bad blood at all,” Roy Cornett said. “I’m glad that there is going to be bluegrass music out at the Horse Park that weekend.”