Back for the bluegrass: Here’s how Walnut Valley plans to handle festival this year
A year away from a live-and-in person Walnut Valley Festival has made some fans realize how much they miss Winfield’s bluegrass bash.
“There’s some chomping at the bit to get into the campgrounds and we haven’t even opened them yet,” media director Rex Flottman said a week before the opening of the festival, which runs from Thursday to Saturday.
Had COVID not struck, Walnut Valley would be celebrating its golden anniversary this year. The 49th edition, however, comes with some uncertainties.
“It’s been a tough year in general, to be honest,” Flottman said. “After taking a year off and not doing a live festival last year, it’s been tough getting things back up and running.”
Last year, the festival supplied exclusive video content to fans online, and extended its offer to performers to return for 2021.
“We’ve just been rolling contracts over until we’re able to get back to a live festival,” Flottman said.
The list of 30-plus performers includes Walnut Valley mainstay John McCutcheon, as well as Tom Chapin and Michael Mark, Appalachian Road Show, 3 Trails West, Rachel Baiman and George Jackson, Damn Tall Buildings, Chris Jones and the Night Drivers, the Dillards, and Bing Futch.
For those who want to enjoy the music but are cautious about the crowds, the festival is offering livestreamed performances online. A form at the festival website, wvfest.com, can validate already purchased tickets for the livestream over another website, mandolin.com. Those who want to buy tickets for the livestream can go directly to mandolin.com as well to purchase a pass — $20 for one day, $50 for three days. It’s not possible to have all four stages covered by livestream, Flottman said, because of the high expense.
COVID precautions will take place, Flottman said, with the encouraging of social distancing, mask wearing and hand sanitizer. COVID testing will take place from 9-10 a.m. daily.
“We’ve been working almost on a weekly basis with our local health department director, and they’ve been great to work with and giving us suggestions and information and such,” Flottman said.
With the 2020 ticketholders given the option of attending live or online and the continued uncertainty about public health during the past year, Flottman said he’s hesitant to hazard a guess on how many fans might attend Walnut Valley this year.
“We’d be tickled to death if we could get anything from 9,000 to 10,000 with the kind of year it’s been,” he said. “It’s just an unknown factor. … We don’t really know how many people are going to make the trip and use those tickets.”
In 2019, 9,918 fans – not counting vendors, performers, crews, staff and workers – enjoyed the five-day festival.
Flottman said he and the festival staff remain optimistic.
“There’s definitely interest, and about everybody we’ve talked to has been excited about getting back to a live festival,” he said. “I think people are looking forward to being here. We’ve got really super fans, and they really are good to help us and work with us. We’re counting on them to help us and work with us.”
Flottman said he and Walnut Valley organizers have kept their eyes on other music festivals to see what COVID-based changes have worked and what haven’t.
The most common response from them, he said: “We’re watching to see what you guys do.”
Walnut Valley Festival
When: Sept. 15-19
Where: Winfield Fairgrounds
Tickets: $125 for the full festival at the gate; daily tickets range from $20-$65 at wvfest.com