MAYVILLE - World-class bluegrass will return to Chautauqua County this weekend.
Marking its eighth year locally, the two-day family bluegrass event will again be held at Mayville's Lakeside Park.
Now a Father's Day tradition, the Mayville Bluegrass Concert features performances by artists young and old. An outdoor event, the Mayville Bluegrass Festival is the largest two-day bluegrass event of its kind in the Northwest.
Article Photos
As always, national acts will be joined by local and regional performers at the Lakeside Park stage for the Mayville Bluegrass Festival — including the “Futures of Bluegrass” with Sierra Hull, pictured above, Cory and Jerrod Walker, Jonathon and Jamie Davis, and the Doerfels.
Submitted photo
For 2009, the Mayville Bluegrass Festival will feature rising bluegrass star Josh Williams as well as legendary songwriters Chuck Pyle and Will Callery. As always, national acts are joined by local and regional performers at the Lakeside Park stage - including the "Futures of Bluegrass" with Sierra Hull, Cory and Jerrod Walker, Jonathon and Jamie Davis, and the Doerfels.
In addition to musical performances, the Mayville Bluegrass Festival features flatpicking and mandolin competitions, free workshops, craft and food vendors, lakeside jam sessions and a Sunday morning gospel bluegrass worship service.
The festival will again feature a late-night Saturday component with performers in Mayville's local late-night spots. For the first time in the festival's history, a musical cruise is scheduled for Saturday night. At 10 p.m., after the mainstage in Lakeside Park closes, the Chautauqua Belle will feature a performance by the Doerfels. Tickets for the cruise are available by calling either 753-2355 or 269-2355.
The Doerfels, originally a family band from Western New York, have grown into a group of sophisticated young musicians making a significant impact on the national bluegrass music scene. Other performers scheduled for this year include Clay Hess, the Foggy Hogtown Boys, Creaking Tree String Quartet, Kate Lee and No Strings Attached, Digger Davis and Tombstone, Straight Drive, Kati Penn Band, Doug Yeomans and Mountain Run, the Dirty Mountain Band, Amanda Barton and Bill Ward, Wind River, the Roe Family Band and Old Dawg Bluegrass.
The Mayville Bluegrass Festival will hold its mainstay Sunday morning Bluegrass Gospelfest at 11 a.m. with many of the festival performers joining Bill Ward for a music-filled time of worship and praise.
For more information about the festival, its schedule and ticket prices, visit www.MayvilleBluegrassFestival.com. Also, the new issue of The Scene, which will arrive in area bars and businesses this Thursday, features the festival on its cover.