Spring/Summer 2011

Keep family harmony by singing along to bluegrass tunes during Bill Monroe’s 100th Birthday Celebrations.

“The Father of Bluegrass” will be remembered June 11–18 during eight days of activities at the 45th Annual Bill Monroe Memorial Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival in Brown County, Indiana. Parents can take up the banjo, guitar, or fiddle at workshops, while kids get one-on-one instruction at the Youth Bluegrass Boot Camp.

More than 50 artists such as Dr. Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys will grace the stage at Bean Blossom. Visitors can also view Monroe’s personal instrument collection at his Bluegrass Hall of Fame museum.

In Owensboro, Kentucky, buy a three-day concert ticket and pitch your tent for free at the River of Music Party (ROMP) June 23–25. Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers and others jam in Yellow Park, which also has fishing, hiking trails, disc golf and volleyball.
 
On September 10, spend a “Homeplace Life Day” at the five-room Bill Monroe Birthplace in Rosine, Kentucky, where interpreters will spin gourd-tops, make horseshoes and churn butter. The following day, attend a service at Rosine Methodist Church and enjoy an afternoon of gospel quartets in Rosine City Park.

And if that’s not enough, the real all-star party begins with the Bill Monroe Centennial Celebration, September 12–14 at Owensboro’s International Bluegrass Music Museum, when Earl Scruggs and others pay tribute to Monroe.

Sing a rousing “Happy Birthday” at noon on September 13, led by Kentucky children — an event to be broadcast from Owensboro around the world.

- State - Kentucky

- Type - Family Vacations

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