What makes Festival of the Bluegrass different? It’s what goes on behind the scenes.
It’s perhaps an obvious expectation that a bluegrass festival would focus almost exclusively on music. But that wasn’t quite the vision Bob Cornett had in mind for the Festival of the Bluegrass.
Sure, ever since he and wife Jean Cornett began the event in 1974, some of bluegrass’ most heralded names – from forefathers like Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley to such present day torchbearers Town Mountain and Lonesome River Band – have performed. But Bob Cornett viewed the Festival of the Bluegrass as being as much about the people in attendance as those creating the music. With his passing in April at age 89, the Cornett family is making sure such a vision is not merely upheld but reinforced as Festival No. 45 gets underway this week.
“He was all about bringing people together,” said grandson Roy Cornett, who has been overseeing the Festival of the Bluegrass with wife AnnaMarie since 2012, although their involvement with the event extends much longer. “This will always be my grandparents’ festival. What we’re doing now is refocusing what it is the festival is about, what makes it work and why we and other people care about it. It’s about keeping all of that in perspective.”
“Roy and I had a conversation before grandad passed away,” said AnnaMarie Cornett. “It dealt with things like, ‘What separates us from the other bluegrass music festivals?’ What separates us from ROMP (the popular bluegrass and roots music summit presented in Owensboro)? What separates us from the Master Musicians Festival (a similarly themed event in Somerset)?’ We don’t view ourselves in competition with the other festivals. We’re all out to do the same thing, which is to celebrate music, to bring people together, to encourage community. ‘What is it about our festival that makes it special and makes it what it is? How do we celebrate that?’ So we just try to be true to who we are. Bob and Jean defined that with their view of community and gathering people together. That’s what we really celebrate at the Festival of the Bluegrass.”
In doing so, this year’s festival will feature the usual three night schedule of main stage artists that includes veteran returnees (The Seldom Scene), local favorites (Newtown) and first-timers (Irene Kelley.) But there is also a revamped Community Stage. In past years, a second stage has presented various workshops as well as a Sunday morning gospel show with Dry Branch Fire Squad that traditionally closes the festival. The activities will expand this year to include yoga and tai chi sessions as well as a gardening workshop.
“Among grandad’s obsessions in life were health, nutrition and especially gardening,” Roy Cornett said. “That was just one of his passions that I don’t think a lot of people knew that he had. While gardening workshops at a bluegrass festival might seem out of place, in my mind, it’s exactly what the festival has always been about. We knew this was the direction we wanted to take with the Community Stage, but we also knew it was something we couldn’t establish in just one year. So we were like, ‘Let’s build this foundation and do it right so it can continue to grow.’ ”
Added AnnaMarie Cornett, “We wanted to honor the kinds of cultural touchstones for Kentucky, for Appalachia, that we can foster, develop and share alongside the tradition of bluegrass music.”
Topping the list Bob Cornett’s most personal and enduring investments for the festival was the formation of the Kentucky Bluegrass Music Camp. A workshop/seminar for younger musicians (ages 6-18), it has run in conjunction with the festival every year since 2002. An ensemble of camp players traditionally serves as the kickoff mainstage act to the festival.
“The camp is an integral part of the entire event,” Roy Cornett said. “The majority of the organization now is done by adults that grew up going to that camp. It’s really incredible to watch. It’s exactly the kind of thing that grandad would have been so happy about, to see the generation that grew up at the camp putting it on for another generation.
“What we’re doing with the festival, especially on the community stage, is less of a memorial for him and more about laying the foundation for the kinds of things he was always striving for. I mean, granddad was 89 when he passed. Up until he was gone, he was thinking about the future and ready to solve all the world’s problems. That’s just how he was his entire life.”
If you go: Festival of the Bluegrass
When: June 6-9
Where: Kentucky Horse Park Campground, 4089 Iron Works Parkway
Admission: $10-$115
Call: 859-253-0806
Online: festivalofthebluegrass.com
Schedule
June 6
- 6:30 p.m.: Kentucky Bluegrass Music Camp
- 7:15 p.m.: Dale Ann Bradley
- 9:00 p.m.: Hog Slop String Band
- 10:45 p.m.: Lonesome River Band
June 7
- 1 p.m.: EKU Bluegrass Ensemble
- 2:45 p.m.: McLain Family Band
- 4:15 p.m.: The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
- 6 p.m.: Turning Ground
- 7:45 p.m.: Dave Adkins
- 9:15 p.m.: Newtown
- 11 p.m.: Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out
June 8
- 1 p.m.: Open Stage
- 2:45 p.m.: Moron Brothers
- 4:15 p.m.: Wildfire
- 6 p.m.: Irene Kelley
- 7:45 p.m.: New South Tribute Band
- 9:15 p.m.: Seldom Scene
- 11 p.m.: Town Mountain
June 9
10 a.m.: True Life Travelers
11 a.m.: Dry Branch Fire Squad
This story was originally published May 30, 2019 at 9:15 AM.