In 2020, the Marana Bluegrass Festival was one of the very last live music events in the Tucson area before the pandemic shut everything down. This year, the Desert Bluegrass Association is thrilled to invite everyone out for three terrific days of open-air, down home bluegrass music!
The festival is Friday through Sunday, March 11-13 at Gladden Farms Community Park in Marana. Friday afternoon kicks off with a 2-hour mini-camp/instrument workshop led by some of this year’s best performers, so if you’re learning guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, bass, or vocals, $30 will get you some intensive small group instruction. The rest of the afternoon is free of charge and will feature a band scramble followed by some great music from Kentucky Sky. The scramble is great fun for anyone who plays – bring your instrument, sign up, and be part of a band formed on the spot – you get a little time to figure things out, and then you’re up onstage performing.
Saturday and Sunday are full days of music from wonderful bands, both local and from farther afield. Our headliners are the Hard Road Trio, from New Mexico, and Kentucky Sky, from Idaho, two very different but amazing bands. In addition to all the great music, we’ll have a kid zone with fun activities and an instrument “petting zoo,” food trucks, arts and crafts vendors, and jamming in the campground every night after the performances.
Tickets for Saturday and Sunday are $20/day, $30 for the weekend. More information and tickets are available at www.desertbluegrass.org. We’ve been waiting a long time to bring live bluegrass music back to the community, and we’re very excited that it’s happening this year. We hope you can join us for some truly great family fun!
