This past weekend was the Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival in Winfield (where I grew up), ALWAYS our favorite weekend of the year! We'll now start the countdown for next year! We had a great time and have spent most of the day today recovering! Here are some pics and some stories to help tell you about our weekend!
Some of our highlights of the festival: One of the biggest ones is the FOOD!! Big ears of corn dipped in butter, indians tacos, funnel cakes, corn dogs, cherry limeades, campground chili, ribs and much more.....we definitely came home well fed and probably a couple pounds heavier (luckily no one will be able to tell much on me!)
Here we are at Stage 1 (the big grandstands). This was a tough stage to have Taylor at because we had to stay on ground level with the stroller. This is the stage that has some of the TOP night performances. 
We arrived in Winfield on Thursday and it was quite warm. Friday got chilly and Saturday even cooler, but all in all, the weather was PERFECT!! The feeling of fall weather at bluegrass just makes the weekend even better! Taylor stayed nice, warm and cozy in her stroller!
This picture is from the camp my parents usually camp at, with friends from Arkansas and Minnesota that we get to see every year! They always do a birthday celebration for me, complete with my favorite zucchini cake!
One afternoon we hung out on the hill at Stage 2 listening to some great performers. Taylor got to crawl around and mess with daddy while he was snoozing away! Later that day, Taylor took a nap in Gma and Gpa's camper and Dave and I went back to this hill and both ended up taking a nap in the grass while enjoying the music! It was nice and relaxing!
Stage 2 got PACKED for some of the performers!
Taylor in her tie-dyed dress!
Family picture in our tent!! We're thinking by next year we'd like to have a camper! We'll see if it actually happens!! 
Taylor didn't like the tent very much the first night. Maybe that's because it doesn't really get quiet there until about 3 or 4 in the morning, so we were expecting her to sleep with the noises or people and music all around her. But hey, there were babies EVERYWHERE so we knew it could be done. I'm sure it was just b/c it was the first night. Others told us their kids had rough first nights but were okay for the rest. Well, luckily, Gma and Gpa Dippel had a camper so we put the pack and play in there and that's where she slept the other nights....this helped us all stay "happy campers"!!! 
The next pics are some of the interesting things you may see at Bluegrass:
Yes, there is a joke camp....if you walk through it you can't get out till you tell a joke. It's quite fun. We luckily have avoided it the past few years.
There are hundreds of camps you can walk by and hear people jamming away at any time of the day or night!
Talk about some interesting ways to camp....you will see it ALL in Winfield! Sorry this pic is blurry, I was kind of far away. We're thinking we may do something similar with Dave's truck next year!!!
Not only do people jam in their camps, but just walking along the road you can find a crowd gathered listening to people jamming in the streets!! This group was very fun to listen to!
WHOAH, I didn't even know these existed anymore!
My favorite performer at Stage 1, John McCutcheon. He is more of a folk artist than bluegrass. I grew up with lots of his kids songs! He draws one of the biggest crowds at the festival!
And yes, these die hard fans had to bring the Nebraska/USC game to bluegrass! I was quite impressed with their setup!
We arrived in Winfield on Thursday and it was quite warm. Friday got chilly and Saturday even cooler, but all in all, the weather was PERFECT!! The feeling of fall weather at bluegrass just makes the weekend even better! Taylor stayed nice, warm and cozy in her stroller!
This picture is from the camp my parents usually camp at, with friends from Arkansas and Minnesota that we get to see every year! They always do a birthday celebration for me, complete with my favorite zucchini cake!One afternoon we hung out on the hill at Stage 2 listening to some great performers. Taylor got to crawl around and mess with daddy while he was snoozing away! Later that day, Taylor took a nap in Gma and Gpa's camper and Dave and I went back to this hill and both ended up taking a nap in the grass while enjoying the music! It was nice and relaxing!Stage 2 got PACKED for some of the performers!Taylor in her tie-dyed dress!Family picture in our tent!! We're thinking by next year we'd like to have a camper! We'll see if it actually happens!! Taylor didn't like the tent very much the first night. Maybe that's because it doesn't really get quiet there until about 3 or 4 in the morning, so we were expecting her to sleep with the noises or people and music all around her. But hey, there were babies EVERYWHERE so we knew it could be done. I'm sure it was just b/c it was the first night. Others told us their kids had rough first nights but were okay for the rest. Well, luckily, Gma and Gpa Dippel had a camper so we put the pack and play in there and that's where she slept the other nights....this helped us all stay "happy campers"!!! The next pics are some of the interesting things you may see at Bluegrass:Yes, there is a joke camp....if you walk through it you can't get out till you tell a joke. It's quite fun. We luckily have avoided it the past few years.There are hundreds of camps you can walk by and hear people jamming away at any time of the day or night!
Talk about some interesting ways to camp....you will see it ALL in Winfield! Sorry this pic is blurry, I was kind of far away. We're thinking we may do something similar with Dave's truck next year!!!
Not only do people jam in their camps, but just walking along the road you can find a crowd gathered listening to people jamming in the streets!! This group was very fun to listen to!
WHOAH, I didn't even know these existed anymore!
My favorite performer at Stage 1, John McCutcheon. He is more of a folk artist than bluegrass. I grew up with lots of his kids songs! He draws one of the biggest crowds at the festival!
And yes, these die hard fans had to bring the Nebraska/USC game to bluegrass! I was quite impressed with their setup!So goodbye to Winfield, yet another year! Next year, Sept. 17-21 we will be at it again! Our goal is to get some friends to join us...it's hard to explain, even in pictures, exactly what it is like...but so far, anyone we've known that has gone, is hooked! Even if you're not that big of fan of the music, the atmosphere is such an experience! See you next year Winfield!!!
1 comment:
We were gonna go remember???? The time snuck up on us and I actually forgot about it until I heard someone else say they were going. I so want to go and check it out.
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