Published: May 13, 2009 08:19 am      

Bluegrass Festival set for weekend

People who like bluegrass music will have an opportunity to participate in it or listen to it Friday and Saturday at Boiling Springs State Park.

The Bluegrass and Oldtime Music Association is presenting its 18th annual spring jam on those days.

“It will probably be held at the E.L. Ware Pavillion,” said Elra Randall, one of the organizers of the event. “People who want to come should look in the park for a band and a group of people playing instruments.”

There will be no stage show, she said.

“We just sit around a campfire and pick,” she said of the music. “About 70 people come to listen, but there is no stage.”

Randall said the musical instruments being played will consist of guitars, banjos, mandolins, fiddles, an upright base and a dobro.

“The festival has been ongoing for about 18 years,” she said. “It’s free, and everyone is welcome. We expect about 30 musicians.”

She said most of the musicians are from the area, but a few will come from Littlefield, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma City and from Watonga.

“One couple will be from Guthrie,” she said.

The musicians will perform many bluegrass standards.

Some of the tunes will include “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” “Bury Me Beneath the Willow,” and “Sally Goodyn,” to name a few, Randall said.

The music will begin about 1 p.m. Friday and Saturday and will continue late into the evening both days, she said, noting, “All of that depends on the weather, of course.”

On Saturday evening, a hot dog roast will be held.

People who want to attend the festival and camp out may call the Boiling Springs State Park office at (580) 256-7664 for more information.

For more information about the festival itself, call Mark and Molly Randall at (580) 995-3147.

Anyone who plays bluegrass music is invited to participate in the event, which is for acoustic instruments.