Why won’t Bloomin’ Bluegrass return in 2025?
A special message to our friends and supporters
from Alan Tompkins, President of the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation
January 15, 2025
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IN A NUTSHELL: The cost to the City of Farmers Branch of producing the annual Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival in the Historical Park had risen to the point that it could not be presented after 2024. Both the City and the Foundation wanted to continue bringing world-class artists and music fans to Farmers Branch, so the Foundation created the new (and smaller) Farmers Branch Bluegrass Festival, and the City became the naming rights partner and major financial sponsor.
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There’s no doubt that we will all miss the big, fantastic bluegrass experience in the near-perfect weather at the beautiful Farmers Branch Historical Park each October. Many have asked why Bloomin’ Bluegrass 2024 (the 15th in a row) was the last one, so we wanted to offer some insights on its history and conclusion.
Bloomin’ Bluegrass was a very special event presented and paid for by the City of Farmers Branch, Texas. It was designed to highlight the City’s magnificent Historical Park, increase City tourism, and bring new business to the City’s many hotels, restaurants, and merchants. Over its 15-year lifespan, the festival was wonderfully successful. It received national recognition from the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2024 when it was honored with the IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award.
The idea for the festival was proposed by the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation in 2010, and for every year of its existence, Alan Tompkins and the Foundation staff managed all aspects of the festival’s main-stage musical presentation. This included booking artists, managing artist contracts and all show and hotel arrangements, coordinating backstage operations (including electrical power and cabling, stage setup and takedown, sound and lighting services, bus and other artist parking, etc.), stage and backstage volunteer management, and much more – all at no charge as a labor of love for bluegrass music.
The Foundation (a 501c3 non-profit) held raffles and offered t-shirts in the stage-side tent in exchange for donations to support the its operations (including its Play it Forward!® Free Instrument Lending Program, now in its 17th year!). A great number of friends and supporters generously contributed, and those contributions enabled the Foundation to continue bringing more bluegrass music to Texas.
The festival required year-round planning and a great deal of time and effort by City staff – as well as a great deal of money. Remember that for its first eight years, the festival was FREE for everyone! The City continued to offer free admission to its host hotel guests through 2024 as a way of thanking those who traveled to stay in Farmers Branch. And remember that ALL artists who played the festival were paid their full agreed-upon performance fee by the City. (Some assumed that because attendees got in free, the artists played for free – but that was not the case.) Festival ticket sales, food and beverage sales, vendors, and sponsorships covered only a portion of the total festival cost.
In November 2023, the City informed the Foundation that because of several factors – including the rapidly rising costs of putting on the festival, a limited number of City staffers available to support it, and a shift in the type of events requested by Farmers Branch residents, they would not be able to continue presenting the festival in the Historical Park after October 2024.
The City and the Foundation agreed that we did not want the music and the smiles to end. The City expressed its gratitude for the incredible support of music fans from across the country who regularly come to Farmers Branch and stay in its hotels, eat at its restaurants, and support its merchants. The City agreed to become the primary financial sponsor for our new Farmers Branch Bluegrass Festival, which will be held inside the Doubletree Dallas Hotel near the Galleria in 2025, 2026, and 2027. Holding the festival inside will also greatly reduce the risk that the event might be cancelled due to bad weather, wet grounds, or other factors.
The City’s financial support is crucial to the success of the new festival, as it will enable us to bring in GRAMMY®-winning Grand Ole Opry® stars and world-class supporting artists. The hotel showroom is much smaller than the Historical Park meadow (we only have 450 seats), and the City’s sponsorship covers only a portion of the event cost, so we will have to sell all the tickets and fill our hotel room block to make the event a success. Thanks to you, we are already well on our way!
We are thankful for all the support of our friends and bluegrass fans over the past 15 years, and hope that you will join us in our latest adventure in Farmers Branch! Let us know if you have questions. Thank you for listening, and thank you for helping to preserve and promote the heritage of bluegrass music in Texas.
Bluegrass Heritage Foundation presents
Bluegrass Star Award® to Michael Cleveland
October 19, 2024
GRAMMY-winning bluegrass fiddler and bandleader Michael Cleveland was honored with the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation’s Bluegrass Star Award® on Saturday, October 19, 2024 at the Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival in the Farmers Branch Historical Park in Farmers Branch, Texas. Cleveland was joined by Rhonda Vincent, Dan Tyminski, and Del McCoury, each of whom have received the Bluegrass Star Award (in 2010, 2021, and 2015, respectively).
Alan W. Tompkins, President and founder of the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation, began the presentation by explaining that the Foundation created the Bluegrass Star Award in 2010 as a way to honor artists who respected the traditions of bluegrass music and preserved its character while doing an exemplary job of bringing the music to new audiences. Previous Bluegrass Star Awards have been presented to Rhonda Vincent, J. D. Crowe, Peter Rowan, Sierra Hull, Ricky Skaggs, Del McCoury, Jerry Douglas, Bobby Osborne, and Dan Tyminski.
Tompkins gave the crowd a short summary of Michael’s incredible achievements as a bluegrass musician and bandleader, noting that he has (so far) been recognized twelve times as the Fiddle Player of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association and, in 2018, was inducted into the National Fiddlers Hall of Fame. His 2018 album Fiddler’s Dream was nominated for a GRAMMY award, and he won the GRAMMY the next year for his album Tall Fiddler.
Also in 2019, Cleveland’s amazing life of adversity and achievement was the subject of a documentary film entitled Flamekeeper: The Michael Cleveland Story. In 2022, Michael received the National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship. More recently, Michael toured with Bela Fleck and an all-star lineup of musicians on the My Bluegrass Heart tour.
“Michael’s incredible talents have brought bluegrass music to many thousands of new listeners over the course of his career, and he is a worthy recipient of the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation Bluegrass Star Award®.” For information about Michael Cleveland, visit his website or the Michael Cleveland page on Wikipedia.com. Photos courtesy of Randy Watkins.
Foundation receives IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award
for Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival at IBMA World of Bluegrass in Raleigh
September 26, 2024
The Bluegrass Heritage Foundation, together with the City of Farmers Branch Texas, was proud to receive the Distinguished Achievement Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association in honor of the 15-year history of the Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival, held from 2010-2024 in the Farmers Branch Historical Park. The award was presented on Thursday Sept. 26 2024 at IBMA’s World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, North Carolina, with award show program hosts Mike Compton and Joe Newberry opening the ceremony.
Alan Tompkins of the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation presented the award on behalf of IBMA. Mayor Terry Lynne, Jessica Alvarado, and Jocelyn Avina were on hand to accept the award on behalf of the City of Farmers Branch Texas. Board members Matt Tessier and Gerald Jones accepted the award on behalf of the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation. The presentation and award acceptance acknowledged and gave great thanks to the City of Farmers Branch and its staff members, to the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation and its leadership and volunteers, to the many artists who have performed at Bloomin’ Bluegrass over the years, and to the bluegrass fans who have supported the event and made its incredible success possible.
IBMA Distinguished Achievement Awards honor those individuals and organizations in bluegrass music who have proven to be forerunners in their particular field of endeavor and have fostered bluegrass music’s image with developments that will broaden the music’s recognition and accessibility. The awards extended to individuals for their contributions shall fall into specific categories and are especially appropriate when they provide acclaim for those not recognized by other IBMA award categories.
The Foundation thanks the outstanding photographers who have been associated with Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival over its 15-year history and whose photos were used in the award presentation, including Derrick Birdsall, Bob Compere, Nate Dalzell, and Kirsten Coutts. We thank Heidi Holloway for the presentation photo above.
Foundation sponsors inaugural Great American Vintage BassFest,
a gathering for players and collectors of vintage upright basses
January 26, 2024
The Bluegrass Heritage Foundation was proud to help facilitate a friendly, educational gathering for players and collectors of vintage American upright basses such as Kay, American Standard, King, Alcoa, Gibson, and Epiphone at the annual SPBGMA (Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America) Convention at the Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville on Friday Jan. 26, 2024. Alan Tompkins, Kyle Perkins, and James Condino worked together to coordinate the gathering, with generous assistance from SPBGMA.
While players of other bluegrass instruments easily carry their instruments (often more than one) to a festival or on a plane, bass players don’t have that luxury because of the large size of the instrument. The opportunity to play, examine, and compare great basses side-by-side was a rare treat.
Dozens of basses were on display around the Evergreen Room at the Sheraton all afternoon, including rare 1930s Alcoa aluminum basses from the collections of James Condino, John Fogleman, and Alan Tompkins (one polished, one with painted woodgrain finish, and one with original clear-coat finish).
Several excellent American Standards from the 1930s (including serial #23 from 1936) were available for inspection courtesy of players and collectors including Russell Rollo, Kyle Perkins, James Condino, Alan Tompkins, Wes Horton, and “Superman” Kent Blanton. The room was crowded all afternoon, with prominent musicians including Mike Bub, Mickey Harris, C. J. Lewandowski, Jasper Lorentzen, Clay Hess, Lenny Nichols, Liz Patton, Gerald Jones, and Zach McLamb stopping by to enjoy the glorious world of the bass clef.
Plans are in the works for a Second Inaugural Annual Great American Vintage BassFest at SPBGMA Nashville in Jan. 2025, so plan to join us. Pictures from Great American Vintage BassFest are in our gallery.
Foundation provides scholarships for young people to learn
more about banjo from Noam Pikelny and others through
the Vincent Memorial Scholarship Program
January 29, 2023
The Bluegrass Heritage Foundation was proud to use scholarship funds from the Johnny Lee Vincent Memorial Scholarship Program to send three young people to learn more about music and the art of banjo performance from world-renowned musician Noam Pikelny and others at the 2023 Hatfield Music Banjo Workshop held in Nashville, Tennessee in connection with the 2023 Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music Annual convention.
Pikelny, a nine-time GRAMMY Award nominee and 2019 GRAMMY Award winner, is the banjoist with the popular and critically-acclaimed Punch Brothers. He was joined in teaching the afternoon workshop by Ira Gitlin, a Winfield-winning national banjo champion, and well-known banjo teacher and author Jack Hatfield of 
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
The Johnny Lee Vincent Memorial Scholarship Program is named in memory of Mr. Johnny Vincent of Greentop, Missouri, a bluegrass pioneer and the father of the Foundation’s first Bluegrass Star Award® recipient, Rhonda Vincent, and bluegrass star Darrin Vincent. Johnny was known for his unique banjo style and founded the Sally Mountain Bluegrass Festival in Queen City, Missouri.
The Bluegrass Heritage Foundation appreciates the support of Mr. Vincent’s family and friends and our many donors and volunteers, all of whom helped make it possible for us to assist young people in making bluegrass happen.
Bluegrass Heritage Foundation provides the
Kentucky School of Bluegrass & Traditional Music
with additional Play it Forward! instruments for students
January 28, 2023
Alan Tompkins, President of the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation, today presented Dean Osborne of the Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music with additional introductory-level instruments, including a banjo and guitar, for students to use while learning to play bluegrass music. The Kentucky School became a licensed affiliate of the Foundation’s Play It Forward!® Instrument Lending Program in 2022.
Last year, the eastern Kentucky area around the Kentucky School experienced devastating flooding, and ten mountain dulcimers used in a Kentucky School high school music program were lost. The Foundation, with help from the folks at the Banjo Ben Clark General Store, provided the school with a pair of high-quality mountain dulcimers and plans to provide more when they become available. “We are so thankful that our Foundation donors, friends, and volunteers have made it possible for the Foundation to continue providing assistance to young people who love this music and want to play at a higher level,” noted Tompkins. 
KSBTM offers a full range of musical education courses, history and background courses in bluegrass music, as well as individualized instruction in banjo, guitar, bass, fiddle, mandolin, dobro, harmony vocal singing, and songwriting. The school’s faculty includes the legendary Bobby Osborne, Dean Osborne, Scott Napier, and Virgil Bowlin.
Play It Forward!® Instruments Presented to
Fiddle & Pick, the Musical Heritage Center of Middle Tennessee
January 26, 2023
Foundation Vice President Gerald Jones today presented several additional entry-level instruments to the Fiddle & Pick Musical Heritage Center of Middle Tennessee as part of the Foundation’s Play It Forward!® Instrument Lending Program. Fiddle & Pick, located in Pegram, Tennessee, was founded by Gretchen Priest-May and her husband Tim May. Fiddle & Pick has been an affiliate of the Play It Forward!® program for more than ten years and has done remarkable work in making musical education available to the young people of the rural Pegram community. Their efforts have been richly rewarding. “We are proud to continue to help Gretchen, Tim, and the other folks at Fiddle & Pick who have given so much to these young people who want to learn more about traditional music,” commented Jones.
City of Farmers Branch wins statewide award
for Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival
March 1, 2022
We’re thrilled for our friends at the City of Farmers Branch who won the statewide 2022 Promotions and Marketing Excellence Award from Texas Recreation & Park Society!
The award recognizes parks and recreation agencies that provide exemplary sponsorship and creativity in park and recreation events and programs. We think our friends at the City deserve this award for their incredible 13-year (and counting!) run of support of the Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival!
Accepting the award for the City were (L-R) Varsha Sareen, Sandy Carter, Meagan Bernard, Geoff Fairchild, and Mayor Robert C. Dye, with Alan Tompkins (back) representing the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation. Congratulations and thanks to the City of Farmers Branch!
Bluegrass Heritage Foundation appoints the
Kentucky School of Bluegrass & Traditional Music
as affiliate of the Play it Forward! Instrument Lending Program
January 29, 2022
The Bluegrass Heritage Foundation today announced that the Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music, a part of the Hazard Community & Technical College and the University of Kentucky Community College system, became a licensed affiliate of the Foundation’s Play It Forward!® Instrument Lending Program. The arrangement allows the school to use the trademarked “Play It Forward!” program name in connection with its musical instrument lending activities and to receive donations of instruments from the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation to support young people who want to learn more about bluegrass and traditional music.
The affiliation agreement was signed in Nashville, where both KSBTM Program Director Dean Osborne and Foundation President Alan Tompkins were in attendance at the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music’s annual convention. Tompkins presented Dean Osborne with a number of introductory-level instruments, including a fiddle, banjo, and guitar, that students can use to begin their study of bluegrass music.
The KSBTM Professional Studio Artist program offers a full range of musical education courses, history and background courses in bluegrass music, as well as individualized instruction in banjo, guitar, bass, fiddle, mandolin, dobro, harmony vocal singing, and songwriting. The school’s faculty includes Bobby Osborne of the world-famous Osborne Brothers, Dean Osborne, Scott Napier, and Virgil Bowlin. Alan Tompkins commented that “we’re excited to join forces with Dean Osborne and his faculty at the Kentucky School of Bluegrass & Traditional Music to help make music education a reality for more young people who want to learn and play.”
Bluegrass Heritage Foundation presents
Bluegrass Star Award® to Dan Tyminski
October 16, 2021
GRAMMY-winning bluegrass music veteran Dan Tyminski was honored with the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation’s Bluegrass Star Award® on Saturday, October 16, 2021 at the Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival in the Farmers Branch Historical Park in Farmers Branch, Texas. Tyminski was joined on stage by Del McCoury, who received the Bluegrass Star Award in 2015.
Alan Tompkins, founder of the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation, began the presentation by explaining that the Foundation had created the Bluegrass Star Award in 2010 as a way to honor artists who respected the traditions of bluegrass music and preserved its character while doing an exemplary job of bringing the music to new audiences. Previous Bluegrass Star Awards have been presented to Rhonda Vincent, J. D. Crowe, Peter Rowan, Sierra Hull, Ricky Skaggs, Del McCoury, Jerry Douglas, and Bobby Osborne.
Tompkins noted that Dan Tyminski has had a highly successful career as a bluegrass musician, singer, and songwriter that included time as an early member of the popular Lonesome River Band, a run spanning two decades with supergroup Alison Krauss & Union Station, a solo career that featured the release of the award-winning album Wheels, and his voiceover work on the song Man of Constant Sorrow in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, released by the Coen Brothers in 2000. Dan’s interpretation of Man of Constant Sorrow won him both a GRAMMY award and a CMA Award for Best Single in 2001 and served as the anthem for the superstar Soggy Bottom Boys touring band. Dan has won 14 GRAMMY Awards and numerous other honors for his solo work and his collaborations with other musicians.
“Dan’s talents have brought bluegrass music to many thousands of new listeners over the course of his career, and he is a worthy recipient of the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation Bluegrass Star Award®.” For information about Dan Tyminski, visit his website or the Dan Tyminski page on Wikipedia.com. Video of the award presentation courtesy of David Seay Productions. Photos courtesy of Nate Dalzell.
