Throw on your cowboy boots: This May and August, the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival is back with its toe-tapping tunes and down-home country charm. Bluegrass aficionados will gather at Granite Hill Campground, the festival’s home since 1979.
This year’s foot-stomping headliners will be Volume Five, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, The Grascals, Seldom Scene, and others. The dulcet tones of banjos and mandolins will provide a soundtrack as attendees eat from a picnic basket, groove in the sun, and strike up conversations with other cowboy boot-wearing attendees. The energy picks up in the evening as the bands crank out their most electrifying numbers. Afterward, folks tend to head back to Granite Hill and hang out around a campfire.
Granite Hill has over 300 campsites, from modern hook-up sites to designated tent areas and room for overflow — for those who had too much fun to get home. Many folks come back for Granite Hill itself because of the comfortable amenities and community feel at the campground.
If watching the performance just isn’t enough, you can learn a thing or two by coming early to the Wernick Method Jam Camp. Held at Granite Hill, this pre-festival program welcomes players of all levels (guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dobro) to learn the ropes and jam with new friends. No note-reading or tablature is used, just a love of bluegrass and a willingness to learn.
The Specs
- A few thousand folks attend the festival each year.
- If you buy tickets before April 30th, a 4-day pass will run you $160. After that, the festival costs $190, or $50-60 per day.
- While you’re there, explore the wide range of things that Virginia has to offer.
FAQs
What is the closest airport to Gettysburg?
Harrisburg International Airport is the closest hub to Gettysburg at a roughly 50-mile distance.
Where should I stay?
There are hookup and tent campsites available at the Granite Hill property for reservation and purchase on the website.
Which artists are on the lineup?
The full lineup for the May festival is Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Woody Platt & the Bluegrass Gentlemen, The Seldom Scene, Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, Dry Branch Fire Squad, The Grascals, Appalachian Road Show, Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, Junior Sisk, Volume Five, and Ralph Stanley II & The Clinch Mountain Boys.
Poster
