Music fans from across the world gathered Thursday in Bean Blossom, Indiana, to celebrate bluegrass culture in a town many refer to as the “Mecca of bluegrass.”
For the 42nd year in a row, Bean Blossom put on the famous four-day Bill Monroe Hall of Fame and Uncle Pen Days festival at the Bill Monroe Music Park and Campground. The festival will continue through Sunday.
The bluegrass festival is the longest-running in the world, park and campground owner Dwight Dillman said.
Dillman said on average, between 15,000 and 20,000 people come together to attend the festival. That’s about half as many as the summer Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival in June, which has recently reached its 50th anniversary this year.
While the majority of the audience was elderly, a younger demographic was represented in the audience as well. Dillman said the Hall of Fame and Uncle Pen Days festival is the type of event all people should attend at some point in their lives, regardless of their interest in bluegrass music.
“If you never have experienced a bluegrass festival, they should try at least once,” Dillman said.
The festival drew in acts from around the world, including Canadian bluegrass band the Spinney Brothers.
“We love coming to Bean Blossom,” band member Gary Dalrymple said. “There’s just so much history and people here.”
Famous bluegrass musician Bill Monroe was hailed by many as the “father of bluegrass” before his death in 1996, Dillman said. It was Monroe who coined the term “bluegrass,” and he shaped the genre into what it is known as today.
In the late 1940s, Monroe bought the park and campgrounds that eventually became the festival’s venue, Dillman said. Monroe loved the landscape of the park because it reminded him of Kentucky, Dillman said.
Monroe is presented as a highly respected figure among many of the performing groups. Monroe’s involvement with both the festival and the park is why Bean Blossom is considered the “Mecca of bluegrass,” and the Spinney Brothers even sang a tribute song to him and his music.
Throughout the four-day festival, many popular bluegrass acts are scheduled to perform, including the Larry Stephenson Band, Ronnie Reno, the Spinney Brothers, and Jesse McReynolds and the Virginia Boys.
However, the musical performances are not the only attractions featured at the festival, Dillman said. The Bluegrass and Country Hall of Fame, which Dillman said is popular among many of the attendees, is adjacent to the festival.
Many of the performing artists will also be putting on workshops to help amateur musicians learn how to play and work in a band, Dillman said. All around the campgrounds, trailers are set up where people camp, cook out and play together in jam-bands, and the standard gift shops and food stands to be expected at a festival can be found.
Despite their success and prominence within bluegrass culture, Dillman said many of these artists cite the festival as their favorite place to perform.
“I’ve been told by several musicians that it means more to them to play on that stage than at the Grand Ole Oprey,” Dillman said.
