RockyGrass

RockyGrass is lived at the Planet Bluegrass ranch, 500 West Main Street, Lyons, Colorado, postcode 80540, with North Saint Vrain creek at the edge. Planet Bluegrass puts it together. Craig Ferguson founded the company; with Steve Szymanski he bought this cycle from the Colorado Bluegrass Music Society. The crowd comes in in the morning, spreads a blanket on the grass and, if the heat presses, goes down to the water. From 25 to 27 July 2025, Dave Gibson counts about four thousand people each day and 21 groups. On Sunday the thermometer reached 95 degrees: some sat in the creek, others walked in, rafts went by, children built stone mounds or got wet with water guns, and on one stretch people crossed from bank to bank.

Gibson opens with the verse of Nashville Cats, thirteen hundred and fifty-two guitar pickers in Nashville, and from there he goes to Del McCoury. With white hair in a crest, he sings that song by The Lovin' Spoonful, with Rob McCoury on banjo and Ronnie McCoury on mandolin. On Saturday Breabach arrived from Scotland. The name translates from Gaelic as stepping hard. They use pipes, bouzouki and whistle. Calum MacCrimmon and Megan Henderson come to the front to dance a step, and the crowd steps to the rhythm. Sam Bush closed Saturday. It was the thirtieth time, or more, that he headed this weekend.

On Sunday, Rhonda Vincent and The Rage leave City of New Orleans as the stretch Gibson highlights. Peter Rowan appears with the Sam Grisman Project. Béla Fleck and other musicians sit with them. David Grisman no longer goes on tour; Sam plays some pieces of his father. From Old and in the Way sound Panama Red, The Hobo Song, Midnight Moonlight and the one that titles the album, Old and in the Way. That last one sounds the verse: gold will turn to gray and youth will fade away. East Nash Grass is on the bill of those days, with Harry Clark on mandolin.

The first RockyGrass on this ranch is July 1992, here in Lyons. They started producing it here in 1992 and bought the land in 1994. Before that, the cycle was already running: July 2025 is year 53, so the start lands in 1973. In September 2013 a flood took the field; in July 2014 the ground opened again. The close of year 50 was done by members of Hot Rize: Pete Wernick, Nick Forster, Tim O'Brien and Bryan Sutton.

The weekend of 24 to 26 July 2026 is already lived on the same ranch. The bill names I'm With Her on Friday, Steep Canyon Rangers on Saturday and Punch Brothers, Tim O'Brien and The Del McCoury Band again. The gates are at 9:00 or at 10:00. In August, on the same grounds, Rocky Mountain Folks Festival runs, another date. Before two of the Lyons dates, there is a week of classes in picking, singing and writing, and a workshop in building instruments.

The bill of 25 to 27 July 2025 spreads the rest. Friday, besides Del McCoury and East Nash Grass: Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway, Mr. Sun, Allison de Groot, Tatiana Hargreaves, Mason Via and Off the Rails. Saturday, beside Breabach and Sam Bush: AJ Lee and Blue Summit, The Fretliners, Becky Buller, Liam Purcell and Cane Mill Road and Jake Leg. Sunday, beside Rhonda Vincent, Peter Rowan and the Sam Grisman Project: The Infamous Stringdusters, Lindsay Lou, The Faux Paws and Seth Mulder and Midnight Run. On the ranch there is also the Wildflower Pavilion; the first concert there was in September 2007. The grass beside the creek remains the ground of the three days.