Bean Blossom Festival Named Event-of-the-Year!

The Bill Monroe Music Park and Campground is proud to announce the 47th Annual Bill Monroe Memorial Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival is the recipient of the2013 International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) Bluegrass Event of the Year Award.

The Bill Monroe Memorial Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival is now established as the oldest continuous running bluegrass festival in the world.

The winners of this year’s IBMA awards were announced last week during the association’s World of Bluegrass held in Raleigh, NC. Park owner and festival producer, Dwight Dillman said, “I just want to say that I appreciate all of you for supporting Bean Blossom. Thanks to all the staff, the festival goers, the bands, sponsors and IBMA. See you next year!”

Throughout the years, the festival has received other honors including: recipient of the 2000 IBMA Bluegrass Event of the Year Award; recognized as a Local Legacy for the State of Indiana by the Library of Congress in May 2001 and becoming a permanent display; featured last year in USA Today’s “10 Great Places To Go To Bluegrass Festivals”; and more.

The 47th Annual Bill Monroe Memorial Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival was held last June and sponsored by Dillman Furniture and Hope River Entertainment. The annual 8-day event included over 50 bluegrass bands, Youth Bluegrass Boot Camp, instrument and vocal workshops, jam sessions, camping, food, vendors, and so much more. 

The 48th Annual Bill Monroe Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival will take place June 12-21, 2014. Next year the park will also host: the 2nd Annual Simply Mushroom-Morel Festival April 18-21; the 4th Annual John Hartford Memorial Festival May 29-31; the 5th Annual Bean Blossom Southern Gospel Jubilee July 10-12; the 16th Annual Bean Blossom Gospel Jubilee July 24-26; the 16th Annual Bean Blossom Blues Festival August 21-23; the Quafftober Fest September 19-20; the 40th Annual Bill Monroe Hall of Fame & Uncle Pen Days Festival September 24-27; and the 8th Cedar Rock Haunted Trail every weekend in October 2014.

More on Bean Blossom
While performing on the road in October 1951, Grand Ole Opry star Bill Monroe traveled to a small town in Indiana called Bean Blossom to perform at the Brown County Jamboree. He immediately fell in love with the area and in December 1951 decided to purchase the property making it his home away from home.

In June, 1967, at the insistence of promoter Carlton Haney, Bill Monroe held his first two-day bluegrass festival, which he called a Blue Grass Celebration, at Bean Blossom. He brought his musician friends together to play the high lonesome sound he had pioneered. This first festival was held in the Brown County Jamboree Barn and was so well attended that Bill decided to have it annually and to build an outdoor stage to accommodate a bigger audience. In June of 1968, people from all over the country came to hear the Father of Bluegrass and his legendary Blue Grass Boys perform, as well as other top name bluegrass artists and Grand Ole Opry stars. The artists performed on a newly-constructed stage that sat at the bottom of a wooded amphitheater surrounded by loyal bluegrass fans. Festival patrons gathered in the fields, in the woods, at campsites, just about anywhere they felt like, so they could pick and sing the music they loved so much.

Over the years the festival has grown and the grounds have been improved. The sounds of bluegrass still echo through the hills and trees, with the spirit of Bill Monroe. Despite his death in 1996, the history and tradition at Bean Blossom continues.

For more information on the numerous festivals that take place at the Bill Monroe Music Park & Campground , please visit BeanBlossom.US.