Cumberland County Kentucky Cumberland River Bluegrass Festival
September in Burkesville belongs, in part, to banjos. The Cumberland County Kentucky Cumberland River Bluegrass Festival gathers three days of live bluegrass in this Cumberland County seat, and the listings that carry it print its name as The Cumberland River Bluegrass Festival. The full county-prefixed form used in this article’s title appears in no layer read; the published name is the shorter one, and it is the form the county tourism alliance’s site and a state magazine event-calendar layer both use. What those layers document is a mid-September festival of national and local acts, staged in a Burkesville park, with free admission and free parking stated for its two most fully described editions. The record is moderate rather than deep: two editions are set out with performers and day-by-day detail, a third is listed with a start date and an evening time, and beyond that the sources offer billings rather than history. This article keeps each fact with the layer and the year that printed it, because the record itself does that, and because two different park names stand side by side in it, unreconciled.
About
Burkesville is the county seat of Cumberland County, a point the reference encyclopedia layer’s county list settles, and the festival belongs to Burkesville in every layer read. Coverage of it sits with the county tourism alliance’s site, published under the Explore Cumberland County Alliance name, and with a state magazine’s event calendar; between them they carry the festival’s dates, venues, performers and admission statements. No layer read names an organiser for the festival itself, so none is adopted here: the alliance is the body whose site carries the listings and prints the contact details, and it is described in that role only.
The published name, The Cumberland River Bluegrass Festival, is printed exactly in both the alliance’s pages and the magazine calendar. What the name describes is a bluegrass gathering of three days’ duration in the two fully documented editions, drawing on national and local acts, with musical entertainment and activities for all ages. Alongside the headline sets, the billings promise entertainment aimed at every age group, though the layers name individual performers more readily than side activities. A themed quilt-block element belonged to the two thousand twenty-four edition specifically, and is kept with that year below rather than treated as a permanent feature.
Quick Facts
| Point | Detail |
| Published name | The Cumberland River Bluegrass Festival |
| Host town | Burkesville, Kentucky |
| County seat | Burkesville, seat of Cumberland County |
| Venue, two thousand twenty-four edition | Dr. Joseph Schickel Memorial Park |
| Venue, two thousand twenty-five and twenty-six editions | Veteran’s Memorial Park, on Upper River Street |
| Fullest documented editions | Nineteenth to twenty-first of September, two thousand twenty-four; eighteenth to twentieth of September, two thousand twenty-five |
| Admission | Free admission and free parking, stated for both documented editions |
| Billings as printed | 28th year in two thousand twenty-four; 29th Annual in two thousand twenty-five |
| Organiser | No organiser named in the layers read |
History
The history the layers actually give is short, and this section keeps it that way. The county tourism layer bills the two thousand twenty-four edition as the festival’s 28th year and the two thousand twenty-five edition as the 29th Annual, and the same layer says in general terms that the festival has run for nearly three decades. Those are the whole of the historical claims available: two billings and one rounded generalisation, each carried by a single layer. No first edition is described, no founder is named, and no narrative of the early years is printed in anything read for this article. Even the venue change visible between the two full editions passes without explanation in the layers.
Because of that, no founding year is worked out here from the billings. Subtracting an edition count from a calendar year would manufacture a date the sources themselves never state, and the billings are instead left exactly as printed, attached to the editions they describe. What can honestly be said is that by the middle of the two thousand twenties the festival presented itself, through the county tourism layer, as an established September fixture in Burkesville with close to thirty annual editions behind it, and that the layers read offer nothing earlier, fuller or more precise than that.
For a useful comparison, see the Cumberland County Kentucky River Festivus Festival for another county festival.
What to Expect
Three days of live bluegrass are the core of the festival as the county tourism layer documents it. In the two thousand twenty-four edition, the Chimney Rock Band opened on the Thursday, the Lindsey Family played on Thursday and again on Saturday, and Kentucky Just for Us and the Finley River Boys played Friday, with the Finley River Boys returning on Saturday as well. In two thousand twenty-five, the named acts include Fred Spencer on the Thursday evening and Lincoln Mash and Heather Alley on the Friday afternoon, and that year’s listing notes a production company supplying audio, lighting and video, though the company itself goes unnamed in the layer.
Around the music, the layers describe musical entertainment and activities for all ages, a general billing rather than an itemised programme. The one concrete extra the record names belongs to two thousand twenty-four: a themed quilt-block element built around the printed theme Old Cars/Trucks. Visitors should also be ready for a short-format edition in the most recent listing: the state magazine calendar’s two thousand twenty-six entry gives an opening evening only, from six to half past eight, rather than full days.
Planning Your Visit
Admission is the simplest decision in the trip: the county tourism layer states free admission and free parking for both the two thousand twenty-four and two thousand twenty-five editions, and no layer read prints any contrary price. The alliance’s site is also where the festival’s listings live, and that layer prints contact details for the alliance, including a mailing address and a phone number, for anyone needing to confirm arrangements directly; the values themselves are not reproduced here.
The harder decision is the venue, because the record gives two park names. The two thousand twenty-four edition sat at Dr. Joseph Schickel Memorial Park, while the two thousand twenty-five edition and the two thousand twenty-six listing place the festival at Veteran’s Memorial Park on Upper River Street. The two forms are not reconciled in the layers, so a visitor working from an older listing could set out for the wrong park; the current year’s listing is the one to follow. Timing matters too: the two full editions ran Thursday to Saturday in mid-September, while the two thousand twenty-six calendar entry describes a start on the third Thursday in September with an evening session from six to half past eight, a shorter shape than the three-day editions before it.
A Sample Itinerary
Thursday belongs to the opening acts. In the documented pattern, arriving for the first day puts a visitor in place for the Chimney Rock Band’s opening slot as billed in two thousand twenty-four, or for Fred Spencer’s Thursday evening set as billed in two thousand twenty-five, and gives a first look at the park before the weekend crowd builds. Friday suits the returning names: the Finley River Boys played Friday in two thousand twenty-four, and Lincoln Mash and Heather Alley were billed for Friday afternoon in two thousand twenty-five, so a single Friday can hold both a named afternoon act and time to walk the grounds. Saturday is the full day in both documented editions, with the Lindsey Family and the Finley River Boys both appearing on the Saturday of two thousand twenty-four.
For the two thousand twenty-six shape, the itinerary compresses: the calendar listing promises an opening evening on Thursday the seventeenth of September, from six to half past eight, so the plan becomes an evening in the park rather than a three-day stay, with the following days’ arrangements left to whatever fuller listing appears nearer the time.
How It Compares
Burkesville’s other big festival in the record is August’s River Festivus, a separate event built around the river itself, with paddle racing and a different musical character. The bluegrass festival differs in season, in setting and in emphasis: it sits in mid-September rather than August, it is staged in a town park rather than on the water, and its documented programme is stage music across three days rather than races and river events. The two share a town and a listing carrier, the county tourism alliance, and nothing else in the layers read connects them.
A wider comparison also needs care. A listings site’s frequently asked questions place the Master Musicians Festival alongside this one, but that festival belongs to a different town and a different county, and its appearance there is a listings artefact rather than any shared history. Judged on its own record, the Cumberland River Bluegrass Festival is a local stage-music festival with free entry and a long run of annual editions behind it, documented thoroughly for two recent years and only thinly for the rest.
A Visitor’s Checklist
- Confirm which park the current year’s listing names before setting out
- Check the alliance’s site again in the weeks before September for the fullest schedule
- Plan for free admission and free parking, as stated for the documented editions
- Arrive on Thursday to catch the opening acts rather than only the weekend days
- Allow a full Saturday, the busiest day in both documented editions
- Note the evening-only session if travelling for the two thousand twenty-six listing
- Bring seating and weather cover suited to an outdoor park stage
- Keep the quilt-block theme in mind if visiting in a year that repeats it
Beyond the Festival Grounds
The festival’s home is a county seat on the Cumberland River, and the layers read for this article place Burkesville’s visitor life largely in the same hands: the Explore Cumberland County Alliance carries the festival listings alongside the town’s other event coverage, including the separate August River Festivus. A visitor with extra days can treat the alliance’s pages as the single point of reference for what else is on, since that is where the record itself gathers the town’s events.
Within the festival’s own record, the grounds are the story: two named parks appear across the editions, Dr. Joseph Schickel Memorial Park and Veteran’s Memorial Park on Upper River Street, and the difference between them is a practical detail worth resolving before travelling rather than a footnote. Beyond September, the layers read here say nothing about a winter or spring programme attached to this festival, and the honest picture is of a single annual weekend of music around which the rest of a Burkesville trip has to be built from the town’s other listings.
Why It Matters
A free, three-day bluegrass festival running to a twenty-ninth annual billing is a substantial piece of cultural infrastructure for a small county seat. The county tourism layer’s own framing, that the festival has run for nearly three decades, presents it as one of the longest-lived fixtures in Burkesville’s calendar, and the act lists show a festival that mixes national and local performers rather than relying on either alone. Free admission and free parking, stated plainly for both documented editions, lower the barrier for exactly the audience such a festival serves: local families and travelling bluegrass listeners alike.
Its significance also shows in what surrounds it. The alliance gives the festival standing coverage on the county’s tourism pages, a state magazine calendar carries its listing beyond the county, and the two thousand twenty-five edition supported professional production, with audio, lighting and video provided. For a festival whose early history the sources leave almost entirely undocumented, the modern record still shows an event the county treats as a flagship of its September.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which performers are named in the recent listings?
The county tourism layer names the Chimney Rock Band, the Lindsey Family, Kentucky Just for Us and the Finley River Boys for two thousand twenty-four, and Fred Spencer, Lincoln Mash and Heather Alley for two thousand twenty-five.
Why do the sources give two different parks?
The two thousand twenty-four edition is placed at Dr. Joseph Schickel Memorial Park, while the two thousand twenty-five edition and the two thousand twenty-six listing use Veteran’s Memorial Park on Upper River Street. The layers print both forms without reconciling them, so this article keeps each venue with the edition it belongs to.
Does the festival charge for admission or parking?
For the two documented editions, no: the county tourism layer states free admission and free parking for both two thousand twenty-four and two thousand twenty-five, and no layer read prints a contrary price.
What is the quilt-block theme the listings mention?
It belongs to the two thousand twenty-four edition only, where the county tourism layer records a themed quilt-block element under the printed theme Old Cars/Trucks. No later layer read repeats it.
What to Expect From the Next Cumberland County Kentucky Cumberland River Bluegrass Festival
How often is Cumberland County Kentucky Cumberland River Bluegrass Festival held?
The billings describe an annual festival: the two thousand twenty-four edition was billed as its 28th year and the two thousand twenty-five edition as the 29th Annual, and every documented edition falls in September.
When is the next Cumberland County Kentucky Cumberland River Bluegrass Festival?
The most recent listing read is the two thousand twenty-six edition, which the state magazine calendar places from Thursday the seventeenth of September, opening with an evening session from six to half past eight at Veteran’s Memorial Park. Any edition beyond that will rest on listings not yet read for this article.
Will the dates change?
They already vary within September: the documented editions ran from the nineteenth to the twenty-first in two thousand twenty-four and from the eighteenth to the twentieth in two thousand twenty-five, and the two thousand twenty-six listing describes a start on the third Thursday of the month. The month has held steady; the exact days have not.
Closing
The Cumberland County Kentucky Cumberland River Bluegrass Festival, printed in its own listings as The Cumberland River Bluegrass Festival, rests on a clear if modest record: two Septembers documented act by act, a third listed, free entry stated for the editions described in full, and a run of annual billings reaching back, on the county tourism layer’s own account, nearly three decades. What the record does not give, it does not give — a founder, a first year, a single settled venue name — and the festival is better served by a faithful account of the layers than by a smoother story built on guesses. Readers planning a trip should start from the alliance’s current listing and treat everything older as background.
