Bluegrass fans gather for a weekend of music and community

Blueberry Bluegrass started Friday and runs until Sunday night.

The Blueberry Bluegrass music festival kicked off its 34th weekend of entertainment in Stony Plain Friday.

Fans began arriving in their campers as early as Tuesday to attend a family friendly event organizers say has developed a dedicated following.

“These people have been coming for years and years,” festival president Anna Somerville says. “There’s a lot of loyalty. We wouldn’t be around for 34 years if we did not have a community that comes together for this weekend.”

Among the 4,000 expected weekend patrons is Dan Antcil from Fort McMurray, with four kids and grandparents along for the fun. “It's good for everybody,” he says. “We’ve been coming here, off and on, 10 years now. Everyone has fun, everybody looks after my kids if they get away from me and it's just a beautiful venue.”

The location offers many amenities throughout the Stony Plain Heritage Pavilion grounds. RV and tent camping on-site is complimented by food and merchandise vendors, along with one outdoor and two indoor stages. Recent additions of a family tent, petting zoo and a ukulele strum-along give parents with little ones many opportunities for fun.

For Somerville, the music is only one aspect of the weekend. The friendships created by the casual, welcoming atmosphere form a community that endures long after the festival closes.

“Blueberry is an acoustic convention,” she asserts. “It's where people who are on acoustic instruments get together. They mingle, they cross pollinate and they share ideas and bands are formed.”

Visitors to the weekend festival can look forward to hearing 18 bands from across North America performing on three stages, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. Jam sessions in the campground and at dedicated tents ensure the entertainment goes on into the wee hours.

“After hours, a lot of the bands will start their stuff out in one of the tents,” Antcil tells CTV News Edmonton. “It can go until two, three in the morning very nicely and then at 7 o’clock everyone wakes up and has pancake breakfast and we start all over!”

Somerville knows her patrons covet the diverse range of musical possibilities found at the event, and the chance to tailor it to their own interests. “The great thing about festivals, is it's a discovery time,” she says. “You can do what you want here. We’re just putting all the tools and all the pieces, and you can build your own festival.”

Weekend passes cost $165 for three days, with camping fees extra. The festival runs until Sunday evening.