Author Archives: Strawberry Music Festival

ONE WEEK UNTIL TICKETS TO STRAWBERRY’S SPRING 2020 GO ON SALE

October 26, 2019

After a long summer sabbatical, we are gearing up for the Strawberry office to re-open and for 2020 ticket sales to begin, in just one week. Adult, Teen, and Child Camping Tickets to next year’s Spring Festival will go on sale (at 9:00 am) on Friday, November 1st, 2019. The Strawberry office will also re-open on Friday, November 1st (9am – 1pm) and then our new winter hours will begin on Monday, November 4th (Monday – Thursday, 9am – 1pm). You can still leave a message when we are away from the phone and we will to return your calls as quickly as possible. There is a lot of new information to share about ticket sales for 2020, so we follow up with another notice and post prices and details when they are available, next week. We can’t wait for the festival season to begin and to hear from you soon.

*Please note that the upcoming power outage may affect our ability to take calls, but tickets will still be available online.

BAND STAND THIS WEEKEND

Strawberry legend, Mitch Third, will be showcased, among many other talented artists, at the Band Stand benefit concert coming up this weekend in Jamestown, CA. Tickets are only $15 for adults and $5 for kids and proceeds go to a great cause. This year, the Sonora Area Foundation will match funds raised up to $11,000 and Rock In Road will use that money to buy instruments for Tuolumne County elementary and high school band programs. Donations to support Band Stand can be mailed to Rock In Road Inc. at P.O. Box 1412, Jamestown, CA 95327. Please contact Jodi Barnett if you are interested in volunteering at this year’s Band Stand or other Rock In Road events.

WESTSIDE UPDATE FOR FALL 2020

It has been a long while since we have provided information about the dam restoration at Westside and the Fall Festival in 2020. Unfortunately, the permit process is on-going and construction has not yet begun. The good news is that majority of the needed permits are in place and engineering specs are 90% complete. There is only a slim chance, though, that the permit process will be complete in time to begin construction this year.

We cannot speculate what this means for a Fall Festival in 2020, but it’s possible that we may have to wait another year to return to Westside. Strawberry is committed to providing you with a high quality experience, in a comfortable and scenic setting. So, we will wait until we are sure that the pond will be full, and Westside is ready for us, to begin planning our next festival there.

We will have more definitive news about next year’s Fall Festival by the end of the year. Until then, we appreciate your patience!

44TH ANUAL FATHER’S DAY BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL STARTS TODAY!

The California Bluegrass Association‘s 44th Annual Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival starts today, at the beautiful Nevada County Fairgrounds. Many Strawberrians already attend this wonderful non-profit event whose mission includes the promotion and preservation of Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Gospel music. To that end, the CBA has developed many important programs to foster the education of young musicians across California. In fact, there are many Strawberry favorites whose talent has been nurtured by this programming, such as Molly Tuttle, Frank Solivan, and Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band, just to name a few. So, in addition to seeing a great lineup of bluegrass pros, you can help support the future of traditional music in real time, this Friday, June 14th through Sunday, June 16th. See you there!

SEASONAL OFFICE CLOSURE

The Strawberry office will be closed for the season, starting on Monday, June 17th. We will continue to check messages regularly and respond to them as soon as possible. You can receive updates by joining our email list, and/or find the latest news, at strawberrymusic.com, including lineup announcements and promotions for Strawberry’s Spring 2020 Festival. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram. Thank you for your support of the Strawberry Music Festival. We can hardly wait to see you in 2020!

THANK YOU FOR MAKING STRAWBERRY JAM

Thank you so much for your support of the Spring 2019 Strawberry Music Festival. Whether you were there in body, spirit, and/or mind, you made the magic that happens at Strawberry come to life once again. What we really want to know is this; how was it for you? Do you have a highlight to share? Yours is the Strawberry story that matters the most!

Stories emailed to info@strawberrymusic.com will be added to this post…

…and here is what we have received so far. Thanks for sending and keep them coming!

Happy Stories from Sarah:

 

Strawberry is such a magical place. My 10-year old son went down to buy hot chocolate one morning and lost the $16 change on the way back to camp. Someone found it and instead of keeping the cash, turned it in to the lost and found. When we went to ask if someone happened to turn in a lost $16.00 cash, we in no way expected the answer to be yes, but someone had indeed turned in the money.  It was the most amazing lesson for my son to learn and I’m so proud to be able to teach him the “strawberry way”.

 

Strawberry Feedback from Barb and Howard:
Hello, folks. We have done many Strawberry music Festivals at Camp Mather from ‘89-2004. We decided to try the ‘new’ venue at Grass Valley this year. We were delighted! Dare we say we had a better experience than the RV corral in the cow dung at Camp Mather?
We arrived Thursday am and were quite surprised how many camping places were filled or blocked off. It was a bit of a panic, then lovely volunteers on golf carts reassured us and said “you paid for a spot, we will find you a spot.”
Flat, near the music meadow, near bathrooms, everything we needed for our 21 ft van conversion.
Line up was fantastic, we were introduced to some new bands we didn’t know, and got to hear some beloved ones, especially Laurie Lewis and Marleys Ghost.
Hey, and better weather – hey, it only rained on Sunday not snowed!
Thanks to all the staff and volunteers who pulled off a great weekend for us! Much appreciated.

 

From Peace Dove:

 

The $50 extra for coming in on Tuesday was absurd,I’m handicap and I come in with my husband who VOLUNTEERS and always does more than his hours.

I even folded Hog ranch shirts ALL morning till the lunch break at one o’clock.
 My experience was that of ,I ALWAYS PAY FOR MY FULL FESTIVAL TICKET for 30 years +  !!
 Tuesday’s charge left me without money for any CDs or food.Then this takes away from  support for them.
Music was great loved the whole concert❣❣❣
     ✌💖🎼🎵🎶

 

 

 

2019 Strawberry Music Festival from Karl:

 

Hello Strawberry peeps,
 
This was my 5th year. This has become a family fun fun yearly tradition and I had a wonderful time as usual. My family wore the unique Strawberry beanies that got comments from all over Strawberry including from the Banana Slugs as they ended their performance on Saturday in the Revival meadow. They were down right in front of the stage dancing and were thanked by the group for their participation. They are the ones who deemed them the Strawberry Hat gang.
 
Thank you for another remarkable Strawberry Memorial weekend!!!!!  

 

Strawberry Input From a Volunteer from Geoff:

I had a great experience helping setup the  Strawberry Spring 2019 show. Later to experience the show I felt pride in knowing I was part of the effort it took to make it a success. The faculty of which I was part of, were warm, friendly and nurturing. Looking now at the event in the rear view mirror, I look forward to contributing my time and efforts for festivals yet to come.

 

Feedback from Celise:

 

I so value all the traditions that have followed Strawberry wherever it ends up. The family and kid safe atmosphere is so appreciated.

 

Spring 2019 from Janet:

Hello Strawberry staff—
These pictures show so much of the heart of Strawberry for me…
Friends Bill (guitar) and Jack (mandolin) are teaching my son-in-law Alec (on melodica, he’s a jazz pianist) fiddle tunes so the around-the-clock jams in our camp have even more fuel.  My daughter Katie is videotaping; she’s been coming to Strawberry since birth.  The redhead is Olivia, a friend of Katie’s and Alec’s from Texas; she’s a singer/songwriter/mandolin player, new to Strawberry but an instant perfect fit.  Friends Toni and Bob are so dear to me, and I never would have found them except for the great good fortune of camping next to them by the basketball court at Mather.  Everybody but Olivia has been working the festival for years.  This is just a small sample of our Strawberry gang, but you get the idea.  Multi-generational, loving, supportive…. lessons in music and kindness and life.
This Spring I loved loved loved We Banjo 3, and always love the California Honeydrops.  Great lineup all around.
Thanks again for a wonderful festival!
 

 

Spring Berry from Kim:

 

Hi-  since you asked, overall we had a  great time!  Highlights were Molly Tuttle,  Marty Stuart watching Crying Uncle on the little stage and taking photos after, and We Banjo Three in the Ponderosa!!! Wow they were all great!!!!  Weather was a bummer and flat camping spaces were hard to find for tents.  We miss the gyros for food option.  As always the strawberry 🍓 spirit was strong and we had a lot of fun.  Just really wish you could get back to Mather!  Thanks for another great event!  Kim

 

Spring 2019 from Sandy:

We had a great time in spite of the wet weather.  The line up of bands was spectacular!  We will be back next spring as we have been for many years.  We started going in 1984 and our kids grew up at Strawberry.  My son now has his own Americana/ bluegrass band of original music.  What does it take for his band to get consideration to play at Strawberry music?
Thank you,
Sandy Williams

 

Great Disability Spot from Vicki:

 

We enjoyed the festival, rain and all.

My comment: Thank you for disability area near the middle of the field. It was nice to have enough room to maneuver without getting into anyone’s way. The volunteers were helpful when one of us fell.

Thanks!

 

Festival Response from Patrick:

 

Frankly, I was disappointed in the quality of talent this year. I’ve been going to this festival since 1987 and this festival was the least satisfying talent so far.  I would rather see better talent do multiple sets at different times than lots of so-so  talent.  My 2 cents worth.

 

OFFICE HOURS AND TICKET AVAILABILITY

3-Day and 4-Day Tickets, as well as tickets for one evening or day, will be available at the Strawberry’s Spring 2019 Music Festival gate.Tickets can be purchased online, at advanced prices, until 5pm on the day preceding the show.

Tickets purchased online will be held at Will Call and can be picked up at either the Gate 1 Day entrance or the Gate 4 Camping entrance with photo identification. Signs and staff are available to assist you.

The Strawberry office will close at noon on Wednesday, May 22nd so that we can make our final preparations for the gates to open for the Spring 2019 Strawberry Music Festival. We will be receiving messages and will do our best to return calls pertaining to this festival, as quickly as possible.

There is just one more day left now until the festival begins and we can’t wait to see you here!

STREET TEAM CONTEST WINNERS


The winners of Strawberry’s Spring 2019 Street Team Ticket Contest are Terri Walsh(email), Deborah Payne(facebook), Jeff Stedman(facebook), Jennifer Mathews(email), and Michele Kronholm(facebook). Congratulations to the winners and thank you to everyone who posted flyers. We hope to see you all there!