HISTORY OF BEAN BLOSSOM
The acoustic music tradition goes back hundreds of years. As in the Appalachian region of the United States, the natives of hilly Brown County, Indiana, have played acoustic string music for generations, but it was a Kentucky native, Bill Monroe, with his high-mountain tenor voice and unique mandolin playing, who made bluegrass what it is today. It was in October of 1951, while performing on the road, that Grand Ole Opry star Bill Monroe traveled to a small town in Indiana called Bean Blossom to perform at the Brown County Jamboree. He fell in love with the area immediately and in December of 1951 decided to purchase the property making it his home away from home.
In June, 1967, at the insistence of promoter Carlton Haney, Bill Monroe founded his first two-day bluegrass festival, which he called a "Big Blue Grass Celebration", at Bean Blossom. He brought his musician friends together to play the "high lonesome" sound he had pioneered. This first festival was held in the Brown County Jamboree Barn and was so well attended that Bill decided to have it annually and to build an outdoor stage to accommodate a bigger audience. In June of 1968, people from all over the country came to hear the Father of Bluegrass and his legendary Blue Grass Boys perform, as well as other top name bluegrass artists and Grand Ole Opry stars. The artists performed on a newly-constructed stage that sat at the bottom of a wooded amphitheater surrounded by loyal bluegrass fans. Festival patrons gathered in the fields, in the woods, at campsites, just about anywhere they felt like, so they could pick and sing the music they loved so much.
Over the years the festival has grown and the grounds have been improved. The sounds of bluegrass still echo through the hills and trees, with the spirit of Bill Monroe all around us. Despite his death in 1996, the history and tradition at Bean Blossom continues.In the fall of 2000, the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), selected the 34th Annual Bill Monroe Memorial Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival as its "Event of the year." That is quite an honor considering the hundreds of bluegrass festivals that are held every year. And in May 2001, the annual Bill Monroe Memorial Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival was recognized as a Local Legacy for the State of Indiana by the Library of Congress, becoming a permanent display. Due to the success of this festival, we have now grown to host numerous festivals a year.
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