Fundraiser For Frankfort Bluegrass Festival Set For Friday At CD&ME

FRANKFORT, IL — The Frankfort Bluegrass Festival is scheduled to return July 9-10, and organizers of the event are holding a fundraiser in preparation of the popular festival.

The fundraiser event is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday at CD&ME, 23320 S. LaGrange Road in Frankfort. Tickets are $40 in advance or $45 at the door.

The fundraiser will take place indoors at CD&ME because of the expected poor weather Friday.

Tickets include beverages from Trails Edge Brewery and Blue Island Beer Co., a food buffet, raffles, and more.

Live music will be provided by Grateful Dead String Band, River Valley Rangers and Coyote Riot.

All the proceeds from the fundraiser will go toward putting on the Frankfort Bluegrass Festival.

The festival is a free, two-day event that takes place at Breidert Green and Prairie Park in downtown Frankfort. The family-friendly festival features more than 20 national and regional bluegrass bands performing on two stages, with jamming tents, a kids tent and activities area, workshops, food and craft vendors and more, according to information of the Frankfort Bluegrass Festival website.

“CD&ME and our supporters allow us to keep our pledge to bring free, top-quality, award-winning bluegrass acts to Frankfort every summer to showcase this truly American music,” said Amanda Thompson, one of the fest's coordinators.

The Frankfort Bluegrass Festival has received many awards, including the 2018 International Bluegrass Music Association’s Event of the Year Award.

“International recognition raised expectations just before a pandemic altered all our lives,” said Steve Haberichter, founder of the fest and a participating musician. “We are reared back and ready to surge forward. The level of musicianship we recruit will never waver, and our audiences know that. Friday’s fundraiser is the most vital we’ve hosted because of the pandemic.”

Bluegrass music defined by its "southern string band music, blues, English, Irish, and Scottish traditions, and sacred and country music," according to the Smithsonian Institute. The typical bluegrass band includes a five-string banjo, a flat-top guitar, a fiddle, a mandolin and a bass.

To purchase tickets for Friday's fundraiser, follow this link.