'A-plus': Weather the star of 15th DelFest

May 29—CUMBERLAND — Although the opinions of festival goers varied on which musical entertainer they liked best at this year's DelFest, it was the beautiful weather that was the star for the vast majority of attendees.

The 15th bluegrass and Americana festival wrapped Sunday night at the Allegany County Fairgrounds following a performance from bluegrass great Sam Bush, which ended about 11:30 p.m.

The four-day festival got underway Thursday under sunny skies, temperatures in the 70s and no rain or humidity.

For Ted Swartzbaugh, of Sugar Grove, North Carolina, it was his seventh DelFest.

"The weather hasn't been better," he said. "It's A-plus on that."

Del McCoury, whose band opened the festival on Thursday, said with a air of surprise, "It looks like we're going to have good weather this festival. How 'bout that?"

Having good weather for the entire four-day festival is unusual. Memorial Day weekend in the mountains of Western Maryland is known for its unpredictable nature. DelFest, which began in 2008, has witnessed it all. Most years, the event has at least one day of rain and usually two or three.

The festival has seen fog, heat, humidity, cold, constant cloud cover and even the infamous straight line winds that ushered in a derecho in 2009 that sent tents airborne and pelted fans with hail.

But, 2023's festival was beautiful all weekend. We asked attendees which performance was their favorite.

Terena Knotts, of Cumberland, said West Virginia native Sierra Ferrell, the 34-year-old guitarist and singer, was her top pick. Ferrell burst onto the scene in 2018 when her tune "In Dreams" was posted to YouTube garnering more than 8 million views to date.

"Her voice is wonderful and she has such stage presence," Knotts said. "I see Lorretta Lynn and Dolly Parton in her. She is so talented and had a great set."

Robert Taliercio of Vienna, Virginia, who works for Bluegrass Country Radio 88.5 HD2 brought his children.

"The highlight for me was Thursday with the late show by Keller Williams Grateful Grass with the Hillbenders," he said. His son Gabriel, 7, said his favorite thing was tubing down the North Branch Potomac River.

"I'm a huge fan of the California Honeydrops and their show was great," Swartzbaugh said. "Sierra Ferrell was also very good. It was my first time seeing her live and it was fantastic."

Mandela Echfu, of Cumberland, owner of Wheelzup Adventures, said, "It's great to see so many local people and businesses come out ... just a lot of representation. The California Honeydrops and Del McCoury were amazing for me."

Phil Miner and Sara Hull of New York City attended DelFest for the first time. "There has been a ton of good music but Trampled by Turtles, they were really driving, for me they were the highlight," Miner said.

Hull said, "There were so many good artists but I like Sierra Hull a lot."

Debbie Leef and Bill Kirk attended from York, Pennsylvania. Kirk enjoyed "Jason Carter and Friends," who played on the Potomac Stage. The festival features three stages: The Grandstand Stage, Potomac Stage and indoor Music Hall Stage inside the Multi-Purpose Building.

"You have to give Del a shout out," Leef said. "He was on it this year. He sounded great and he was having a great time performing."

Rebecca Bell and Rick Zundel of Derry, Pennsylvania, have Live, Laugh, Tie Dye clothing. "I loved the California Honeydrops," Bell said.

"I'm here to see Molly Tuttle and Del McCoury of course," Zundel said. "But we like the California Honeydrops. When you have this kind of weather it's all good."

Greg Larry is a reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. To reach him, call 304-639-4951, email glarry@times-news.com and follow him on Twitter @GregLarryCTN.