The Nothin’ Fancy Bluegrass Festival, the musical extravaganza that has drawn hordes of bluegrass aficionados, nationally prominent musicians and scores of campers to Glen Maury Park each September since 2001, has played its last note in Buena Vista.
The festival, named for and hosted by an award-winning band with a national following that has ties to Buena Vista and the greater Rockbridge area, is relocating to the Page County Fairgrounds in Luray, beginning in 2027.
“We’ve been here for 26 years, and it’s been great, but we’ve outgrown [Glen Maury Park],” said Robyn Wines, festival coordinator and business manager for the festival since 2011. “The challenges are the space and parking – our ability to grow. The biggest thing is we’ve outgrown this venue.”
Wines acknowledged that there were some glitches at this year’s festival, held last week, that perhaps made it clear that the festival had outgrown the park. In the past, the softball field has been utilized for camping but it was unavailable this year. That left fewer spaces for camping.
Also, in previous years, there has been a weekend in between the Rockbridge Mountain Music and Dance Festival and Nothin’ Fancy, leaving more time to set up for the latter of the two events. This year, because of Labor Day being late – Sept. 7 – there was no intervening weekend between the two music festivals. Nothin’ Fancy organizers arrived on the Sunday preceding the festival and remnants of the Mountain Music festival still in place caused a delay in the latter being able to set up on Sunday, as has been the customary practice.
Wines emphasized that the issues that arose this year were not the decisive factor in festival organizers choosing to relocate to Page County next year. Page County economic development officials were on hand at this year’s festival, in preparation for hosting the event next year. “We were already pursuing another venue,” she said. Page County officials were “actively engaging us.”
Contacted Tuesday afternoon, Buena Vista City Manager Krystal Onaitis, who’s been on the job just a few weeks, said she was sorry to learn that the festival is leaving Buena Vista. She said she and other city officials have worked to address the needs of the festival, including obtaining waivers from the Virginia Department of Health’s regulations to allow additional primitive campsites for the event. She said she’s spoken with Wines several times and would try to speak with her again to discuss how this year’s festival went.
Despite the early glitches, this year’s festival was a very successful one, said Wines. There were 229 campers and well over 1,000 attendees. “The festival went great this year,” she said.
The Nothin’ Fancy Bluegrass Festival dates to 2000, when the very first festival was held inside Virginia Military Institute’s Cameron Hall. Among the big-name draws that year was Ricky Skaggs, the pre-eminent bluegrass and country music entertainer. The festival has regularly drawn the likes of Rhonda Vincent and the Rage as well as Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out. The late Morris O’Shields, a Rockbridge area resident and business person, helped organize and promote the festival in the early years.
The festival moved to Glen Maury Park its second year, in 2001, and has been held annually ever since, with the exception of a brief hiatus during the Covid pandemic. The event has drawn more and more people over the years. Wines said there have been folks coming here from 17 different states, Canada, and even France and New Zealand.
The impact on the local economy has been huge. Wines recalled that the late Gary Farris, a Buena Vista resident and founding member of Nothin’ Fancy, put a bucket on the stage one year and asked attendees to deposit copies of their receipts from their local purchases in it.
The receipts showed, she said, “the many, many thousands of dollars that were being spent. They shop and they eat here.” A resident of Catawba in Roanoke County, she said she herself spends probably $1,000 to $1,500 when she’s here for the festival.
The festival had a good long run in Buena Vista, but it’s time to move on, Wines concluded.
