A high level mix of bluegrass (lots of bluegrass), country/southern rock. Smattering of singer-songwriter. 4 stages: Mainstage, late-night stage, workshop stage and a kids stage area. A well-run festival that does some things differently than other fests.
15 – 20 craft vendors and 7 or 8 food vendors. Food does seem high priced compared to Rocky Mountain.. Biggest problem is NO ICE CREAM VENDOR!! I certainly hope they address that in future years… As a matter of fact, there’s a marijuana dispensary closer than an ice cream shop..
Mainstage is a large tent with 1,300 seats under cover. You can bring your own low-back char and sit just behind the tent. I’m sitting in the first row of that seating now and it’s got a clear view of the stage and is not too far back. The sound company has an auxiliary set of speakers for outside the mainstage canopy. Sound is clear and well done. Sets are 60 or 90 minutes with 30 minutes between sets for sound checks, and grabbing a bite to eat, etc.. An unusual aspect of mainstage seating; 15 minutes into any set security makes a sweep through the 1,300 seats, removing any contents of empty seats. They don’t want their performers playing to a half-empty audience.
Security is present at both Mainstage entrances. No glass containers are allowed, nor is any alcohol. You can bring in chairs, tarps, even a cooler, except all liquid needs to be in factory sealed containers. Any personal water bottles need to be emptied before you can come in. They have filtered water stations inside the entry points, so you don’t have to be without water.
One other point.. DUST… The soil on Reservoir Hill is very fine, and very light which results in dust clouds hanging over the festival site after a day or so… Rain could cure this, but, it’s southern colorado, so forget about rain.. It wasn’t possible for me to sit in the first row of low chairs outside the tent as the traffic to and from in front of us created air that was difficult for me.. I spent the rest of the fest under the tent where the air was cleaner..
All in All, A festival i would certainly consider doing again should i be near colorado.
Continue for more information about the festival.
Location: Festival takes place on Reservoir hill a few hundred feet above the town of Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
Getting There From Durango, take US 160 east 60 miles total
From Taos, 141 miles.
Music: A high level mix of bluegrass (lots of bluegrass), country/southern rock. Smattering of singer-songwriter. A Mainstage, a late-night stage a workshop stage and a kids stage area.
RV and camping Information: It Gets a little complicated for those not familiar with the procedures..
Lineup for “Landrush” starts pre-fest tuesday at Noon, Although it seems some people get in a little before (despite dire warnings against doing so). I arrived @ 12:13 (had to get the nosepads on my glasses fixed 4 miles away). And was 27th in line. By 11AM Thursday, there were probably 100+/- vehicles lined-up.
The lineup takes place in a relatively flat area across the street from the entrance to Reservoir Hill. It’s approx ¾ of a mile uphill on a switchback road to reach the festival area. There are intermediate camping areas halfway up the road, but I was sooting for an area called “The Flats”. My Roadtrek 190P has an absorption refrigerator, and has to be level +/- 2 degrees in either direction.
There’s lots of places for camping on Reservoir Hill. You need a special RV camping pa$$ or tent camping pa$$. There’s a 24’ size limit for RV’s on-site. For oversize RV’s, they can camp in the flat area right across the street from the entrance to Reservoir Hill. There are shuttles running between the festival and the bottom of the hill, as well as parking areas. The town is ¼ of a mile away. Shuttles run from before mainstage starts to after mainstage ends. Camping spots that are flat are probably about 10 – 15% of all then camping spaces, so you need to be pretty early in the lineup to have a chance at those. I had to use 3 levels of orange levelers on 1 rear side of the RV and 1 leveler on the other. This got me within 2% of level in both directions.
Generally, the people i’ve met have been very friendly and more than willing to share their institutional festival knowledge.
The days have been in the 80’s with a very bright sun (7,500 feet elevation) and nights around 45-50 (with lots of stars).
Volunteering: Lots of volunteering opportunities.. There’s some rules.. Here’s the link: https://www.folkwest.com/fcff-volunteer
Songwriting Contest: No songwriting contest at this fest.
Internet: AT&T and Verizon phones, AT&T Tablet and Verizon hotspot all work well. The external MIMO antenna on the Verizon hotspot moved it from 2-3 bars up to 4-5 bars. My Sprint hotspot did not work in the pre-fest lineup at the bottom of the hill, but does work in the campground, albeit a bit slower than the Verizon.