The four-day Labor Day weekend will find more than 35 bands hard at playing on two outdoor stages at the largest free music festival ever presented in Louisville. More than 175,00 persons from 30 states are expected to attend the festival, held on the Riverfront Belvedere and on Main Street in front of the Kentucky Center for the Arts.
Headliners include R & B wiz Elvin Bishop, jazz saz player Michael Brecker, vibraphonist Johnny Lytle, country singer Holly Dunn, Tony Rice, Riders in the Sky, folk veteran Jonathon Edwards, Zachary Richard and songwriter Townes Van Zandt.
New to the Festival will be Fattburger, a California New Age Jazz group; bluegrass satirists The Austin Lounge Lizards; Rank Strangers; Laurie Lewis and Grant St.; Big Twist and the Mellow Fellows and Wayne Toups.
Regional acts scheduled to appear include Anson Thunderbird and the Rockets, Cato Watts, Walker and Kays with Ann Chamberlain and, from Chicago, Special Concensus.
The MusicFest incorporates, the Louisville Jazz Society's annual Water Tower Concert (Sunday on the Main St. Stage) and also will feature a Salute to Labor on Monday, coordinated by the Greater Louisville Central Labor Council..
The MusicFest began as the Bluegrass Festival in 1973. The event has undergone many changes over the years but has maintained its status as one of the premier events on the festival circuit in the United States, as well as around the world. It has been broadcast over public radio stations throughout the country.
Music organizations throughout the city are involved in the production and coordination of the event. In addition to the Jazz Society, Louisville Homefront Performances handles artist hospitality and various members of the Dulcimer Society involved in the various tents and Belvedere jams.