FloydFest in southwestern Virginia was one of the first large-scale music festivals based on a wide variety of musical genres. Since they launched in 2002 the event has changed the culture and the landscape of the sleepy little town of Floyd, with a number of people drawn there for the music eventually relocating to the community. The newcomers, many of them artisans and back-to-the-earth seekers, have worked out a fruitful collaboration with the families who have been settled in those mountains for generations, and the one stoplight town has begun to grow up in a number of ways.
At the beginning, bluegrass and other forms of roots acoustic music were a major part of the festival’s offerings, along with all sorts of world music styles, though less so more recently.
This year, for FloydFest Wild 2018, they will set up a special large tent dedicated to bluegrass sounds. Artists set to perform there include Songs From The Road Band, The Lil Smokies, Black Mountain Revival, Mama Said String Band, Fireside Collective, Harwell Grice Band, Keller Williams, and several others set to perform over the five days (July 25-29).
FloydFest founder Kris Hodges tells us that they are excited to add this feature to the festival, where string band lovers can stop in throughout the day.
“Awww the call of the wild inspired us at FloydFest to create the newly installed Throwdown Tent and stage to showcase the yawp and holler of the Appalachian Hills. We love our culture and we love our beloved old time and bluegrass music. That’s why we developed this centrally located performance area replete with string bands on stage until 3:00 a.m., and roaming buskers in and around the tent all day.”
We’ll have a report with photos after the fact.
You can see the full schedule for all 8 stages on the FloydFest web site.