The 18th Annual Holly Blue Grass Festival is set for June 11-13th

Ready for the Performances to Begin

The 18^th annual Holly Bluegrass Festival is held at Gateway Park, June 11-13^th in conjunction with Holly Days which commemorates Holly’s recovery from the 1965 flood. It is a free, fun-filled time for the entire family.

FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE PARK – Begins with meals prepared by the Holly Commercial Club from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Your evening entertainment will include a taste of the tantalizing talent to perform on Saturday. Don’t forget your chair, your appetite, and your ears to enjoy selections from several of the bands.

The Saturday Bluegrass festival will begin at 10:30 a.m. with four excellent bands playing until approximately 5:30pm. Blue Canyon Boys, Bluegrass Martins, Hillbilly Aliens, and Tender Foot Bluegrass make up this year’s roster. Besides good music, there will be a variety of vendor booths offering food and crafts, etc. Kid’s games and activities throughout the day will enhance the family entertainment.

SUNDAY SERVICE – Featured artist will be Brotherhood with Jerry Nelson beginning at 10:30 a.m. Join us for gospel singing, worship and fellowship.

BLUE CANYON BOYS

The Blue Canyon Boys are equal parts purists and innovators when it comes to Bluegrass: they stay true to the form’s roots while constantly reimagining their relationship to tradition. The result is a toe-tapping mix of haunting standards, genre-bending arrangements, and catchy original numbers — all built on the bedrock of their collective bluegrass mastery. Their distinctive sound, honed from over a decade of performing together, moves easily from instrumental wizardry to playful ribbing. The seasoned quartet features Gary Dark on mandolin, Jason Hicks on guitar, Drew Garrett on bass, and Chris Roszell on banjo. This is high lonesome sound at its best: a driving pulse that weaves through harmonies and fierce rhythms, always with the reminder that as long as the music plays, we are never quite alone.

BLUEGRASS MARTINS

The Bluegrass Martins have been playing music since the early 2000’s. The band has changed several different times over the years but they have always kept it all in the family. The current line up is Anne Martin on upright bass, Jeana Martin Faris on fiddle, Larita Nolt on dobro, Lee Martin on mandolin and drums and Dale Martin on guitar. Not pictured since she took a hiatus back in 2018 to focus on her little growing family is Janice Houk on banjo who is back playing some of the local shows. The Bluegrass Martins have played festivals and concerts from one end of the states to the other and everything in between plus Canada and the Bahamas! They have their own unique driving traditional yet contemporary edge to their music, and have been dabbling in adding some drums to select shows. You just never know what you will be in for when you come to a Bluegrass Martins show with special guests, different line ups and all kinds of fun and exciting entertainment.

HILLBILLY ALIENS

This other worldly band is made up of two couples – Mike & Bonnie Coats and Gary & Suzie Solomon. They are all veteran musicians and mechanics, which comes in handy working on spaceships. They love all sorts of earthly music and earthly instruments such as the guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, bass, autoharp and cajon. They put on a high energy show and love to perform. They love earth food, too, so invite them to your next fish fry, wine or chocolate tasting party or pie eating contest.

TENDER FOOT BLUEGRASS

Hailing from Manitou Springs, Colorado, Tender Foot Bluegrass comes to you with their exciting, fun-loving style of bluegrass. Their instrumentation is traditional and their music is built around great songs and sounds. The band features Ryan Keene on guitar, Isaac Brisk on mandolin and AJ Brisk on bass and they are all very proud of their original songs and music. Together Tender Foot Bluegrass seamlessly blends the resonance of their instruments with their wonderful vocal harmonies to produce unique arrangements and fantastic sounds. Either get up and dance, or sit back and enjoy, but whatever you do, don’t miss the Tender Foot Bluegrass boys when they are in your area.

BROTHERHOOD WITH JERRY NELSON

“Brotherhood” is a well-recognized gospel male trio – in fact a household word around Denver where they continue a ministry that has blessed hearts for decades. The group was nominated for a Grammy in past years and has been the featured group on the TV ministry “A Reason to Sing.”

Jerry Nelson, who has performed multiple times in the Town of Holly, has been their arranger since day one. Jerry also continues a global piano solo ministry, having performed on all continents (except Antarctica). His artistry, in a myriad of styles, will dazzle your senses. More importantly, their music and personalities will tug at your heart strings and leave you wishing you had brought along more of your friends.