Bridge Jam 2019: The Coolest Little Festival in the Coolest Small Town Around
Summer festival season is in full swing, and the crush of choices will make a music lover’s head spin. The big guys such as Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Lockn’ Festival, and Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival take up a lot of airspace and attention. But there are hundreds of small, easily accessible, more affordable regional festivals around the country that offer not only soul-satisfying music but also gorgeous destinations as well.
Bridge Jam 2019 in tiny Fayetteville, West Virginia, fits the bill nicely and then some. Set to take place August 23-24 at Cascade Festival Grounds, the fifth annual event will be headlined by jam favorites and purveyors of rockin’ grooves Aqueous. They will be supported by flat-picking legend Larry Keel Experience and progressive bluegrass masters Mountain Heart.
A host of regional and local bands covering a range of genres, including country, rock, Southern rock, Americana and bluegrass will be on hand as well. These include contemporary bluegrass quintet Fletchers Grove, The Kind Thieves stirring up a pot of rock, funk, jam and bluegrass, and Krista Hughes Band playing modern country and rock with an indie flair.
They’ll be joined by area favorites Matt Mullins And The Bring Downs, Long Point String Band, Groundhog Gravy, The Great Grass Sea, The Boatmen, Creek Don’t Rise, Mud Hens and Hit & Run. The music will run nonstop on two stages and there’ll be plenty of art, and 24 craft brews and tasty local cuisine to sample as well. All this for just $45 (yes, really) for a weekend pass.
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Bridge Jam was originally started in 2015 to coincide with Bridge Day, Fayetteville’s largest one-day festival held each year on the third Saturday of October. The extreme sports event draws thousands of people from around the country who come to watch BASE jumpers throw themselves off the world’s longest arch bridge in the western hemisphere, the New River Gorge Bridge, into the spectacular gorge 856 feet below. (Why they want to fling themselves from a perfectly good bridge is beyond me, but a good time seems to be had by all!)
This year, however, festival organizers changed the dates to August due to the unpredictable weather in October, which can be cold and rainy. August, however, offers balmy temperatures, cool nights, and the opportunity to explore the awesomely beautiful mountain scenery surrounding Fayetteville. Bridge Jam offers camping on its grounds, but the area also offers quaint and affordable accommodations ranging from camping and bed & breakfasts to hotels and mountain cabin rentals.
Known as America’s Coolest Small Town, Fayetteville, with a population of just over 3,000 souls, actually lives up to that billing. Chock full of outdoor enthusiasts, adventurous millennials and peace-loving hippies, the town is charming and is minutes from the spectacular New River and surrounding mountains where nature lovers can raft, kayak, hike, rock climb and mountain bike to their heart’s content.
So, ditch the crowds and come out and stay a spell for music, art, food, the town, the river and nature’s magic. Click on the links below for tickets and more information.
