The Walnut Valley Festival is an acoustic music festival held annually in

Winfield, Kansas Winfield is a city and county seat of Cowley County, Kansas, United States. It is situated along the Walnut River in South Central Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 11,777. It is home to Southwestern College. H ...

, United States. The main genre of music is bluegrass, but a wide variety of other acoustic styles are represented. The festival is held on the Wednesday through Sunday that includes the third Saturday of September. In 2019, it was held from September 18 to 22.

History

The first official "Walnut Valley Festival" was held in September 1972. It originated as a small folk festival started on the campus of Southwestern College in 1967. Founders of the first Walnut Valley Folk Festival, among others, included Sam Ontjes, Stuart Mossman and families. The entertainers included Jimmy Driftwood, Art Eskeridge, Glenda Bickell, Mance Lipscomb, Johnny Vandiver & Jo Wright, Harry Weldon, Poor Bill Miller, Doc Watson, Merle Watson, Charles Cloud, Shannon Singers, Vern & Ray, Pat and Victoria Garvey and the Revelators. Along with Friday and Saturday evening concerts, there was a guitar making demonstration, blues workshop, guitar style workshop and a gospel sing. The Walnut Valley Folk Festival was created at a time when

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative. The makers of folk art are typically tr ...

was beginning to be recognized by pop-culture. The intent of the festival was to bring some of America's greatest professional and amateur talent to the Walnut Valley. For years to come, many individuals worked hard and dedicated much talent, time, effort and money to continue the tradition of bringing live folk and bluegrass music to the public. This was helpful in encouraging and creating a stage for local talent, as well. Eventually, the Walnut Valley Folk Festival evolved, with the help of Bob Redford and family, to the Walnut Valley Festival and changed its location to better suit its growing needs and the local community. Four simultaneous stages and many impromptu venues, notably

Stage 5 Stage 5 (or, originally, "Stage V") is an unofficial stage at the Walnut Valley Festival, an annual bluegrass festival in Winfield, Kansas, United States. Set up in the Pecan Grove campground, the informal stage began in 1987 when camper Russe ...

, allow for a wide range of musical interests. Besides the world-class paid performers, Winfield is known for its instrumental contests. The headline contest is the National Flat-pick

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

Championship. Other contests include the National

Mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...

Championship, the National Bluegrass

Banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

Championship, the National

Hammer Dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion- stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more tra ...

Championship, the National

Mountain Dulcimer The Appalachian dulcimer (many variant names; see below) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of ...

championship, the International

Autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...

Championship, the International Fingerstyle Guitar Championship, and a

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the ...

contest. The festival is also known for its lively audience, which has at times included the poet and guitarist, Chris Beard. In 1999 the International Bluegrass Music Association named the Walnut Valley Festival as its first "Bluegrass Event of the Year" award winner. Camping on the grounds of the Cowley County Fairgrounds opens one week before the Thursday when the stage acts begin. Even before that, many regular campers are in line for choice campsites. This event is known as the Land Rush after the Oklahoma Land Rush that happened nearby. Approximately half of Winfield campers bring a musical instrument, so the campgrounds are particularly conducive to all-night jamming. When camping, there are many people from different countries. In the 2006 Walnut Valley Festival, there were performers from Ireland and visitors from as far away as Japan. There are typically 11,000-15,000 people that show up from Land Rush all the way to the final Sunday. People begin lining up over a month prior to the festival in order to get their line number for Land Rush. There have been many bands that began as "Jam Bands" in the camping grounds that have been invited to participate in the festival including Driven. Many of the stage performers will wander through the camp grounds and play with those around a campfire or join a group of strangers playing together on "Broadway", the dirt road running through the Pecan Grove Campgrounds. This area usually has people playing throughout the night and regardless of weather.

References

External links

Official Site for the Walnut Valley Festival

Picker's Paradise, an unofficial fan site for the festival

Aerial photograph of the festival in 2003

Stage 5
{{Coord, 37, 14, 15, N, 97, 00, 33, W, format=dms, display=title, type:event_region:US-KS Folk festivals in the United States Music festivals in Kansas Bluegrass festivals Tourist attractions in Cowley County, Kansas Music festivals established in 1972

History

See also

References

External links