Rain also washed out the access road up the ridge to the large campground leaving limited entrance and exit to the campgrounds. The grass roads of a hay pasture, particularly the roads that had to go straight up and down the hill became very slippery, sometimes making for an amazing human mud slide for those crazy enough to try it. There was a workshop stage (where the great Bill Keith teaches banjo players tips on playing minor chord progressions) and a kid’s tent. There was a master’s stage for informal up close shows by the artists on the main show.
The artists play with their backs to the setting sun. Whoever was performing as the sun went down would be completely confused by the crowd’s howling, wondering what they did wrong. People would howl throughout the campground too. While the sun set, everyone in the crowd would howl until the sun was gone. Each year at the festival, from where the crowd sat in the bowl of the amphitheater, the crowd would watch as the sun would sink behind the Catskill Mountains in the distance. The view from your seat at the main stage offered wonderful views west across upstate New York and gorgeous views of sunsets.
The main stage was located at the bottom of a nicely formed amphitheater which filled up each night with fans just waiting for Tim O’Brien to tell then what to spell out with flashlights. They seemed to have a copy of everything in Americana and Country music. Geoff Stelling sold his banjos, and Charlie Chase and his wife sold vinyl and CDs from the back of their van. There was a nice midway with a great Greek pizza shop. Many years there were two large teepees set up on the upper side rim of the music bowl. It didn’t happen during the 13 years we went up on the mountain. People in the campgrounds always told stories when one or two cars rolled down the hill into the woods below with nobody hurt. The festival provided split wood blocks to be used to chock your wheels too. You had to be careful not to park cars up and down the hill for fear of running over someone if the brake slipped. Less ominous, and enjoyable to a point, was all night jamming and drumming that happened after dark each night.īecause of the mountaintop location, most camping was on the side hill. Ironically we never saw the stalker man again the whole weekend. I suspect we were able to get away because the stalker clearly had been drinking that morning.
We then quickened out pace and eventually shook off the trailing stalker. When we noticed that this man was following us, we changed direction and walked away from our campsite in the opposite direction. He even stalked Laura and me as we returned to our campsite. However, one year my daughter, Laura, and I had a very scary experience when a man accused my daughter of relocating his chair back to make room for our chairs. This usually did not seem to cause problems for families that attended Winterhawk. Some groups bring in amazing amounts of alcohol. Beer was sold on tap and alcohol was everywhere. It is more likely that at this festival people seem to consume more alcohol that at most venues. The ages of the attendees at this festival trend younger than most of the other big festivals we’ve attended.
#John hartford stelling license
There are always many Quebec and Ontario license plates in the campground. This event was located about three hours drive from both Boston and NYC.īecause of its location, the mix of people and accents was wonderfully diverse. Located on top of a mountaintop with views across the Hudson Valley (you can’t see the river) into the eastern end of the Catskills, this festival we considered one of the ‘biggest’ bluegrass festivals of the summer season.
Winterhawk Bluegrass Festival was in upstate NY near Ancramdale. This festival seemed to be the logical next step. Each year we would see the incredible lineups made up of progressive bands like John Hartford, David Grisman Quintet and the New Grass Revival. We first found out about Winterhawk reading paper flyers that were displayed at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival.
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