Fans have one last chance to visit the current location of the International Bluegrass Music Museum before it begins the transition to its new home – and new name – as the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum. The old museum will officially close tomorrow, June 30, at 5:00 p.m. so staff can begin the process of moving the museum collections to the new facilities.
The closing aligns with the conclusion of this year’s ROMP Festival, the museum’s annual “roots and branches” festival that features a lineup of bluegrass, folk, and Americana artists, and attracts thousands each year. There will not be an official ceremony to mark the closing of the museum because concerts will be ongoing at the festival at the time. However, the museum still expects a large number of visitors to go through the museum while attending ROMP.
According to museum executive director Chris Joslin, the actual work of moving exhibits and artifacts will begin July 16 and will continue through mid-September. That will leave the staff close to a month to get everything set up and prepared for the new museum’s grand opening celebrations October 18-20. Several exciting events are planned for the grand opening, including headliner concerts and an outdoor festival. Joslin said that the museum has also invited all living Hall of Fame members to celebrate the museum’s first day open.
More information about the grand opening events should be released later this summer. Until then, if you’re in the Owensboro, KY area, head on over to catch one last weekend at the museum.
