The Blue Sky Boys Sunday Morning Gospel Show, Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 1974

Fans listen to country music in clubs, on the radio, and sometimes on television. But perhaps the biggest commitment they can make to the music is to pile into their car, pickup, or RV and go to a live show, whether it's in a concert hall or on a tiny village green. That's because touring and playing live is the primary means for most country acts to earn money and stay active. Only the megastars make big money from record sales.
There are two venues where country music really rules: country-music parks and bluegrass festivals. Music parks became popular in the 1940s and 1950s as summer gathering places for families. Many, such as Lone Star Ranch, Indian Ranch, and Take It Easy Ranch, had Wild West themes. Some music parks had a lake for swimming by day and a bar for dancing by night. Others had a restaurant on the premises, but most families barbecued their own meals. And on Sunday afternoons there would be entertainment—maybe a kids' show, but almost certainly a country music band.

While a few remain, most county-music parks are long gone, victims of real-estate development and changing demographics and musical tastes. But bluegrass festivals are still very popular—more than five hundred are listed in the annual festival guide in Bluegrass Unlimited magazine. Although the first festivals started in the 1960s, they became especially popular in the 1970s. And while bluegrass music is in the spotlight, a few of these festivals also feature old-time traditional music of all kinds—folk, country, Irish, Cajun, and so on.

Perhaps the most notable thing about bluegrass festivals is that they have helped preserve the music by providing a place for traditional musicians to work and for their fans to hear them. But another important contribution is that bluegrass festivals have brought together disparate fans—young and old, urban and rural, rich and poor, educated and not—whose only obvious connection is the music.

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