The Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival will kick off on Thursday after taking last year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Performances will run until Sunday and feature 24 bands, five of which will play in a showcase competition. Tickets have sold out for overnight passes and camping, but single-day tickets will be available.

Bands this year include Twisted Pine, Steep Canyon Rangers, The Gibson Brothers, The Sam Bush Band, Po’ Ramblin Boys and the Del McCoury Band.

According to Michael Mulligan, who first experienced the festival as a three-month-old in 1984, people attend from all over the east coast and beyond. Mulligan is the son of Pati Crooker Mulligan, who founded the festival in 1979 and passed away in 2016.

“For some people, it’s New Years, for some people it’s their birthdays. The festival weekend is the passing of the year for me, that’s what delineates time flow,” Mulligan said. “It’s just simply music everywhere.”

For those who attend, the event feels very much like a family gathering, Mulligan said, estimating that between 50-75% of the patrons also play an instrument. Many will spend the weekend simply playing music by the campfire and meeting up with old friends.

It’s not uncommon, Mulligan said, that band members will walk off the stage after a performance and go into the crowd or campsites to mingle with patrons.

“There really isn’t anything quite like a bluegrass festival,” Mulligan said. “This year even more so than others you can really feel that love and that connection that people are finally seeing each other again.”

Mike Armistead, the guitar player for The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band, said that his five-person band has performed at Thomas Point Beach over 10 times. In recent years, The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band closes out the festival. This year, they will also play earlier in the day Sunday.

“The experience both for the artists and for the people attending is a homecoming type event,” Armistead said, a Nashville local and professional musician of 30-years. “Whenever I’m on the stage and I’m looking out and I see lots of smiling faces out there, it’s a warm feeling that’s really hard to explain, other than it’s kind of like a big hug that you get.”

What draws him to the bluegrass genre, Armistead said, is the realism of it. “There’s no faking nothin’,” Armistead said. “It’s as real as it gets.”

According to Shari Rapoza-Elder, the charm of the festival comes from remaining close to its roots. In many ways, she said, time seems to sit still there. Rapoza-Elder has also been involved with the festival since the ’80s, and now works as an organizer and promoter for the event.

Traditionally, the organizers do not release the number of attendants, but according to Rapoza-Elder it should be similar to 2019.

“The reason is because some people like to believe they’re in a crowd of 100,000 people, and that is exciting and inviting to them,” Rapoza-Elder said. “Other people like to feel like they’re in a small intimate setting, and everybody has their own perception of what that feels like.”

The event will also include instructional and artist workshops, family activities, guided jams, food and merchandise vendors and after-hour sets.

About 300 bands in total have played the festival. In the past, people have traveled from Canada, Japan, Germany and Sweden.

Organizers encourage patrons to bring chairs. Music starts at noon on Thursday and goes from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday through Sunday.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

2021 high school girls soccer preview: Experience roams large on the Midcoast

Next »

Survey shows: Topsham residents want a community center