Carson Peters & Iron Mountain at the 2023 Headin’ Home Fest – photo © Libby Lindblom
This report from the 2023 Headin’ Home Fest comes from Libby Lindblom. The Lindblom family, aka Headin’ Home Bluegrass, host the festival near their home in Georgia, and she tells us that this year’s attendance was several multiples over last year’s.
The 2nd Annual Headin’ Home Fest was held November 9-12, 2023 in Swainsboro, GA and was a wonderful celebration of bluegrass music and wholesome family fun.
Hosted by the family band, Headin’ Home, from Georgia, the festival also featured Carson Peters & Iron Mountain, The Little Roy & Lizzy Show, Retro 78, The King James Boys, The Baker Family, Frances Mooney & Fontanna Sunset, and Bells Highway. The stage music was top-notch, the attendance great, the campground jamming in abundance, and the location perfect (the Georgia Sports Arena is home to a huge covered pavilion and 228 RV hookups). Luke Lindblom ran sound, and Jo Odom served as MC.
Besides the great bands and the jamming that went on throughout the four-day festival, this family-run event also offered an open stage where 13 local acts performed, a potluck BBQ dinner, a 50/50 raffle each night, a raffle for a beautiful rosewood Alvarez guitar, a variety of craft and music vendors, a Sunday morning gospel jam, and a fun “guess the Smarties” challenge—where the closest guesser took home a giant glass jar filled with Smarties candies. (The exact count was 6492!)
The 2nd Annual Headin’ Home Fest came off quite well, with every member of the Lindblom family filling a role, all the way down to nine-year-old Leo who sold raffle tickets. Feedback from attendees has proved that everyone had a delightful time and was impressed with the quality of the music, the ideal facility, and the organization of the entire weekend. Jammers particularly enjoyed how much picking went on at this festival, as the all-night jams were a definite focus and highlight.
With impressive growth since their inaugural event last year, Headin’ Home Fest is rising to fill a void in south Georgia as the region’s most exciting new bluegrass festival. It’s one you certainly won’t want to miss next year!
Headin’ Home Fest will be moving from November to the fourth week of October starting in 2024 and going forward! Next year’s dates are October 24-27, 2024.
Head over to headinhomefest.com for more info on the 3rd Annual Headin’ Home Fest in October 2024!
