Our largest event, the Good Old Fashioned has been held each summer since 1994. It features three wonderful days of California bands on the main stage, as well as hot campground pickers on the side stage between main acts. The GOF is also legendary among festival fans for both the quality and quantity of campground jamming.
The festival takes place on the second weekend in August at Bolado Park, just south of Hollister. There is a tree-filled, shady campground for tent camping and a spacious meadow for RVs. The weather in August is typically comfortably warm during the day, with nights that range from mild to cold (pack layers!) The GOF is kid friendly, with a Kids on Stage program for budding bluegrass musicians and a wonderfull volunteer-staffed crafts and activities corrall next to the audience area.
Please note that there are absolutely no dogs or pets of any kind permitted at Bolado Park, except for service dogs, which must be in uniform at all times. Any ticketholders or volunteers who arrive with a pet will not be allowed to enter the festival grounds. To avoid unpleasantness and enjoy your festival, please respect this policy and make other arrangements for your pet.
The 16th annual Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival will be held Friday-Sunday, August 7-9, 2009 at Bolado Park, on Highway 25, 7 miles south of Hollister. The festival is a benefit for the Northern California Bluegrass Society and is the closest 3-day weekend camping festival to most bluegrass fans in the SF Bay Area and the Monterey Bay Area.
This year, a new stage — “The First Stage” — will open the proceedings two hours earlier than in past years, at 1:00pm on Friday. The Main Stage will begin, as usual, at 3:00pm that day.
The GOF is small, fun, relaxed and easy. Jamming rules the evenings and much of each day. The First and Main stage performers are booked in advance, but the popular ‘Tweener stage alternates with the main stage, offering other musicians at the festival an opportunity to play approximately three songs before the full audience.
The event has some nice amenities: shade over the audience area, a low-power FM broadcast of the stage to the camp, food and craft vendors, information about other festivals and bluegrass organizations, children’s activities, shady camping for tenters, plenty of close-in parking for RVs, plenty of RV hook-ups, lots of flushy restrooms, showers, workshops, a Kids On Stage program, and sweeping views of hillside vineyards, pastures, and craggy peaks.
3:00 Mountain Drive
4:00 Page Brownton & Sidetrack
5:00 Dalton Mountain Gang
6:00 Faux Renwah
7:00 49 Special
8:00 Bean Creek
9:00 Alhambra Valley Band
Saturday, August 8th
10:00 OMGG
11:00 Wronglers
12:00 Common Cents
1:00 Workshop/Lunch Break
2:00 Jimmy Chickenpants
3:00 Smiley Mountain Band
4:00 Stoney Mountain Ramblers
5:00 Workshop/Dinner Break
6:00 Barefoot Nellies
7:00 Dark Hollow
8:00 Circle R Boys
9:00 Belle Monroe and Her Brewglass Boys
Sunday, August 9th
9:00 Old Soles
10:00 Wintons (Gospel Hour)
11:00 Harmon’s Peak
12:00 Kitchen Help
12:45 Lunch Break
1:15 Kids on Stage
2:15 Houston Jones
3:15 Nell Robinson & Red Level
4:15 Earthquake Country
5:00 Special Guest Yodeling Lady Lolita
Posted Jul 1st, 2009
by Jessica Evans in
GOF |
No Comments |
The new Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival ”First Stage” is a theme stage that will begin the festival two hours earlier than before. In 2009, the theme will be “Women Performers.” Our stage hosts, the band Chickwagon from San Francisco, will open the show. Also playing (so far): Regina Bartlett, Pam Brandon, Jessica Evans, Diana Greenberg, Jennifer Kitchen, The Pixie Chicks, Jeanie Poling, Nell Robinson, Manton Elementary School Bluegrass Band members Madison and Mariah Skillman, and The Velotones, with many more to be added on the two-hour bill. Chuck Poling will emcee. Music on the First Stage will begin at 1:00pm on Friday afternoon August 7.
Applications for the remaining slots will be accepted until July 9, 2009. Send an e-mail to (Barbara Corff ) chickwagon (at) gmail (dot) comof Chickwagon to apply.
Posted Jun 28th, 2009
by Michael Hall in
GOF |
No Comments |
OMG!!! These kids are moving on up at the Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival. Last year, the band OMGG — Obviously Minor Guys And A Girl – knocked ‘em dead on the “Tweener Stage (we have the YouTube version right here). This year, at the August 7-9 GOF, NCBS is thrilled to have A.J. Lee, Nate and Max Schwartz, and Marty Varner doing a full set on the Main Stage.
Posted Jun 27th, 2009
by Michael Hall in
GOF |
No Comments |
