In Colorado, There’s a Lot of Blue and a Lot of Grass

Bluegrass festivals have seen a bit of a historic jumble when it comes to music in Colorado’s high country.

A lot of them came out of Telluride and the work of Craig Ferguson and Steve Szymanski, who started the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. That morphed and grew into a series of bluegrass festivals that took place in Lyons, Estes Park, and elsewhere, often under the umbrella of the FolkS Fest (while all my stories offer exciting typos, that is not one of them). And these fests have hosted everyone from James Taylor to John Prine to Norah Jones to the Indigo Girls.

Impressive.

But in Colorado, there’s a lot of blue and a lot of grass.

On July 12–14, SnowyGrass Music Festival (in partnership with Snowy Peaks Winery, Tandem CPAs, Visit Estes Park, and Estes Park Condos), will celebrate 9 years in Estes Park.

But this is the fun (and maybe a little bit important) bit, dear Children of the Grass.

It will be held at the first location of the Rocky Mountain FolkS Festival that went down in August of 1991 (it is nowadays held in Lyons, Colorado).

There’ll be music workshops, bluegrass jam circles, onsite camping, food and art vendors, craft beverages, and local and regional nonprofits will be present.

The location is Stanley Park, 380 Community Drive—that big park on the lake as you drive in. You know the park, but you might not know its name.

Anyway, I recently chatted with Nadine Sekerez, the organizer.

Powder: Is the festival 100 percent camping/camper vehicles?

Sekerez : No. 3-day passes without camping are available, as well as single-day passes.

Powder: How big is the festival area?

Sekerez : The festival area itself is a little over an acre. The camping area is about a half an acre.

Powder: What are the actual dates? There are competing dates in several places on the website.

Sekerez : Yes. It depends on how you look at it. Ha. Officially, it is Friday–Saturday. Campers come in on Thursday afternoon, and we will have a happy hour show with the Charlie Stevens Band to welcome them on Thursday evening, hosted by Snowy Peaks Winery.

Powder: How old is the festival?

Sekerez : The first SnowyGrass was in 2016, started by Snowy Peaks Winery. They were not going to be able to keep doing it annually, so they allowed me to continue producing it. I began producing it in 2017.

Powder: How did it start?

Sekerez : Candice Mohr of Snowy Peaks Winery wanted to throw a party for customers and the community—a single day, 3-band festival. Here is a link to an interview I did that's on the Colorado Bluegrass Music Society website: https://www.coloradobluegrass.org/newsletter_june2023#snowygrass .

Powder: What's something about the festival that you think people should know?

Sekerez : It is dog friendly! It has panoramic views of the mountains, plus lots of activities on the grounds like a bike park, tennis and basketball courts, a zipline, playground, and a four-mile path around the lake.

Powder: By the way, I'm really impressed with the festival already. The services provided and the planning seem superb.

Sekerez : Thank you!

Powder: The flush toilets thing is huge for me. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy them. Will there be any Porta-Potties? (I hope not.)

Sekerez : There will be a couple of porta johns in the backstage area for the convenience of the artists. But they also have flush toilets in another green room area which is a covered shelter.

Powder: Are you going to change your crazy last name to Smith, like I suggested?

Sekerez : I love my last name so that would be no!

And you thought snowy grass was merely what happened in October in Estes.

Here's some background stuff that was in a press release:

“SnowyGrass was founded by Candice Mohr of Snowy Peaks Winery in 2016. For the first 7 years, SnowyGrass was located at Baldwin Park just behind the winery. She wanted to celebrate 11 years in business in Estes Park and thank the community for its support. The winery had already been supporting live music every Friday by featuring music in its tasting room. In 2017, UpStream Enterprises, LLC took over managing the festival. It grew from a one-day festival into a 3-day festival with camping and workshops, featuring Colorado bands and National acts such as Lindsay Lou, Becky Buller, Seldom Scene, Jeremy Garrett, Special Consensus, and more.

“This year’s festival will feature I Draw Slow, Darol Anger and Bruce Molsky, Fireside Collective, Travis McNamara (Trout Steak Revival), Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road, Jake Leg, Slay, Foggy Mountain Spaceship, David Lawrence & The Spoonful, Lost Penny, Friendly Reminders, Timber, Charlie Stevens Band, and Mighty Holler.

“For more information on tickets, schedule, or to donate, visit https://www.snowygrass.org .”