Ocean State Bluegrass Festival 2024

Join us for the fifth annual Ocean State Bluegrass Festival, Friday, September 20 through Sunday, September 22, 2024 at Frerichs Farm in Warren, RI. The event is sponsored by the Rhode Island Bluegrass Alliance (RIBA) with generous support from The Carter Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation.

A Full Festival ticket ($40) includes one camping space for the duration of the event (Friday evening through Sunday afternoon) and Saturday workshops and show admission for one person. Additional people staying at the same camp site must purchase a Saturday ticket. Parking for one vehicle (one RV or one car, if camper or tent camping) at the camp site is included. Dry camping only (no water or electrical hookups available).

A Saturday ticket ($30) includes workshops and show admission for one person. Does not include camping or parking. Saturday admission is free for children 14 years old and younger.

Sunday - Free admission!

Parking is $5 per vehicle, per day (collected on-site). Note: If you are camping, parking for one RV or one car is included in your full festival ticket.

Tickets can be purchased online by credit card or PayPal. Tickets may also be purchased at the gate by cash, check, credit card or PayPal.

Friday - Gates open at 4:00 pm. Activities include picking, an open mic, and camping. Food will be available for purchase.

Saturday - Workshops start at 12:00 noon. The bluegrass show, which starts at 5:00 pm, will feature three bands: Stoneface Mountain, Wide Open Spaces, and Max Wareham and the National Bluegrass Team. Food will be available for purchase.

Sunday - Activities start at 11:00 am and will include an instructional jam, Band Scramble, picking, raffles. Food will be available for purchase.

SATURDAY'S BAND LINE-UP

Stoneface Mountain is a young band from the Boston area who share a common love of music. Their hard-driving classic bluegrass sound is influenced by great legends such as Flatt and Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs, and Bill Monroe. They have been astounding crowds at many popular New England venues for the past five years, such as the Podunk Bluegrass Festival, Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival, Club Passim, and many others. They are the emerging future of bluegrass.

Wide Open Spaces plays “bluegrass without borders”, using bluegrass instrumentation to play a wide range of music, from Kentucky hills to Celtic and Caribbean isles. Combining the traditional sounds of fiddle, banjo, mandolin, guitar and bass with modern song writing, jazzy rock-edged arrangements and tight three-part harmonies, they take audiences on a musical joy ride that has some people saying: “I can’t believe that’s bluegrass!”

Max Wareham and the National Bluegrass Team features Max Wareham, a banjo player, songwriter, and author from Boston, Mass., french mandolin prodigy Jean Baptiste Cardineau, Sufi-poet-turned-guitar-flatpicker Ali Telmesani, and Boston bass stalwart Mike Siegel.  Max is a member of the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band and was featured on the Grammy-nominated album “Calling You From My Mountain.” After two years of touring nationally with Peter, Max recorded his own album, Dagommit! The album features Chris Eldridge on guitar, Laura Orshaw on fiddle, Chris Henry on mandolin, Mike Bub on bass, Larry Atamanuik on snare drum, and guest singer and producer Peter Rowan.

WHAT TO BRING

Bring a lawn chair for the show, a picking chair and your instrument(s) if you will be jamming, bug spray, sunscreen, rain gear, and a flashlight. If you are camping, it is dry camping only. Food and soft drinks will be available, but you are welcome to bring your own.

The festival will be held rain or shine.