ROMP Festival

ROMP is lived at Yellow Creek Park, 5710 Kentucky Highway 144, Owensboro, Kentucky, postcode 42303, east of the city. The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum, at 311 West 2nd Street, postcode 42301, produces it, and the festival is its main fundraising. The park has a lake with fishing, trails and the Jim Lambert Pioneer Village. The county opens it in summer, from April to October, from 8 to 23, and there are four shelters with tables, a grill and light. The festival takes the grounds at the end of June, from Wednesday to Saturday. During those days a free tram goes down to the centre, to the Envision stage in the museum lobby. On the grounds there are tents and motorhomes. 24 to 27 June 2026 was the 23rd.

On Saturday 29 June 2024, in the same park, Sierra Hull sounds How Long, Boom, the third movement of the Bluegrass Concerto, titled Pray, Beautifully Out of Place, Chasin' Skies, I Feel the Blues Moving In, by Del McCoury, with Jerry Douglas, Sunshine, by Mickey Newbury, also with Douglas, Mad World, by Tears for Fears, E Tune, Choices and Changes, Stomping Grounds, by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Come Out of My Blues and Lord, That's a Long Way. On the bill of that year are Dierks Bentley, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Marty Stuart and Leftover Salmon.

On Thursday 26 June 2025, the live recording of Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country marks Broadside Ballad, Hangman's Reel, Riding That Midnight Train, with Molly Tuttle on guitar and voice, Blame The Train, (I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle, About The Angels, Ghost Riders In The Sky instrumental, Better Deal Blues, Yonder, Forgotten Days and Double Exposure. The next day, the 27th, the recording of Fireside Collective marks Winding Road, Back To Caroline, Cabin Song, Owensboro Funk, Drivin' Through the Rain, Memphis In the Morning, Old Wooden Ship, Wreckage Jam, Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes, Will You Be Lonesome Too? and Let It Ride. The 2025 bill names Wynonna Judd, Del McCoury Band, Sam Bush and The Dillards.

The first ROMP is the one of 2004. In 2011 the bill brings Steve Martin with the Steep Canyon Rangers and Emmylou Harris. In 2012, Vince Gill and Old Crow Medicine Show. In 2013, Merle Haggard. In 2015, John Prine. In 2016 the bill brings Old Crow Medicine Show, Del McCoury Band, Sam Bush, the Earls of Leicester, the Infamous Stringdusters, Steep Canyon Rangers and Lee Ann Womack. In 2017, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Punch Brothers, Los Lobos and Yonder Mountain String Band. In 2018, Alison Krauss. In 2019, Ricky Skaggs with Patty Loveless, Del McCoury Band, Trampled by Turtles, Steve Earle & The Dukes and Billy Strings.

In 2023 the bill brings Old Crow Medicine Show, Greensky Bluegrass, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Sam Bush, The Infamous Stringdusters, Molly Tuttle, Rhonda Vincent and Tuba Skinny. 2020 was the virtual year. In 2021 the bill brings Bruce Hornsby and Robert Earl Keen. In 2022, Punch Brothers and Rhiannon Giddens. The bill of June 2026 names I'm With Her, Punch Brothers, Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Del McCoury Band, The Infamous Stringdusters, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage and Dan Tyminski Band. Also listed are The Brothers Comatose, Shadowgrass, Michael Cleveland & Jason Carter, Della Mae, Trey Hensley Band, East Nash Grass, Mason Via and Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen. The park at the end of June continues with the lake beside it, the tram to the museum and four days of bluegrass, with workshops and the pioneer village a few steps away.

24 to 27 June 2026 was the twenty-third, from Wednesday to Saturday, with the free tram to the Envision stage. Sierra Hull closed her order of 29 June 2024 with Lord, That's a Long Way. Daniel Donato closed the recording of 26 June 2025 with Double Exposure, and Fireside Collective that of the 27th with Let It Ride. The museum, at 311 West 2nd Street, keeps producing the park weekend, with the lake and the Jim Lambert Pioneer Village beside it.