Popular Sacramento Mountain music festival returns this weekend to Weed, New Mexico
A music festival organized 26 years ago by the citizens of Weed, New Mexico returns this weekend, said the president of the Weed Community Association.
The Weed Bluegrass Festival serves as a fundraiser for the Weed Community Center, said John Bell.
This year’s festival runs Saturday and Sunday, according to Bell.
“We were only able to hold a one-day festival session due to COVID-19 (in 2021) and had to postpone our event in 2020,” he said.
Bell estimated 300 to 500 people attended the Bluegrass Festival in past years, which is quite a change from the permanent population of just 31.
He said five bands were scheduled to play throughout the day on Saturday starting at 9 a.m.
“We get everybody together Saturday. The five bands play two times,” he said.
Bell said admission for Saturday’s performances was $15 a person and Sunday’s sessions feature gospel music.
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Music also begins at 9 a.m. Sunday at the Weed Community Center, located at 21 Weed Road, but it is free to the public that day.
Kent Taylor, bass player of Vintage a bluegrass band from Roswell, said the group has played at Weed for more than a decade.
“Members have changed out over the years. None of the current group were in the original band,” he said of the group founded 30 years ago.
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Taylor said Vintage plays a mixture of bluegrass music from classic standards made famous by Bill Monroe to more contemporary music made from artists like Anne and Pete Sibley.
“Weed, New Mexico is a great town. It’s cooler than Roswell, Artesia or Carlsbad,” Taylor said of the summer weather conditions in the Sacramento Mountains.
Other bands scheduled to perform are Simple Gifts, Pickin' on the Plains, Blue Sky Country and Last Minute Bluegrass.
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Brief history of Weed
More than 120 years ago, Weed had a population of 429 people, read the website of the Weed Community Association.
“Weed settled into a sleepy isolation where a small, stable population of saw millers, stockmen, farmers and merchants had developed,” the website cited.
Scouts and hunters started visiting the area sometime in the 1870s.
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A post office was established in 1885 and named after W.H. Weed who was born and raised in New York City and established residence in the Lincoln County mining community of White Oaks.
He built a store in the community which eventually bore his name and other merchants set up properties as well, per the Community Association website.
Weed’s school was established in 1885 and closed in 1991.
“In spite of this loss and a population of only 40 people, the people of Weed have maintained a strong kinship to each other and, in June 1995, celebrated Weed's 110th year attracting more than 1,000 visitors,” according to the Community Association website.
Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: 26th annual Bluegrass Festival coming to Weed, New Mexico this weekend
