20th Annual Watermelon Pickers’ Festival
Join us in making this year’s Watermelon Pickers’ Festival a spectacular success! By sponsoring the festival, you’ll help us continue a cherished tradition that keeps bluegrass and roots music thriving in our community. Your support ensures that festival-goers leave with unforgettable memories and the knowledge that your contribution played a key role in their wonderful experience and memories of a great weekend of music and community.

Schedule:

Thursday, September 5, 2024

Thursday early-arrival ticket holders can enter the festival grounds beginning at 9:00 a.m
Gates open for arrival/check-in from 9:00 a.m - 8:00 p.m.

12:00 p.m - 2:00 p.m: Instrumental Music Workshop
Instrument-specific workshops for banjo, fiddle, guitar, and mandolin. There will be something new to learn, whether you are a beginner or an advanced picker. Play multiple instruments? Bring them all. You can easily switch between groups throughout the day.

2:15 p.m - 3:00 p.m: Harmony Singing and Vocal Workshop with Melissa Wright
Harmony singing and vocal workshop with Melissa Wright. Improve your harmony singing, pick up a new tune, and become confident when singing in a group. Everyone arriving on Thursday is welcome to join.

3:15 p.m - 5:00 p.m: Instrumental and Jamming Workshop
Join the group and learn to jam. Instrument groups will come together for a jam. Share the tunes and skills you learned throughout the day and get ready to pick around the campfire or join the band contest on Saturday.

5:15 p.m - 6:00 p.m: Shade Tree Collective Unplugged Performance
Bring your dinner or a dish to share and head over to the  for a dinner performance. Everyone arriving on Thursday is welcome to join.

9:00 p.m - 10:00 p.m: Campfire Jam Hosted by the Plate Scrapers
Kick off the late night jamming atmosphere with a friendly open jam hosted by the Plate Scrapers. Everyone arriving on Thursday is welcome to join.

Friday, September 6, 2024

Showers are available at the Chet Hobart Park from 9:00 a.m - 12:00 p.m and 4:00 p.m - 7:00 p.m.

10:00 a.m - 11:00 a.m: Yoga with Anna Billman
Start your morning with a relaxing yoga session, energized for a great day of music.

11:30 a.m - 12:15 p.m: Flatfooting Dance Workshop with Jan Scopel and music by the Short Hill Mountain Boys
You’ll be ready to kick up your heels and dance through the festival. Join Jan Scopel for a fun and easy flatfooting dance workshop, with lively music from the Short Hill Mountain Boys.

12:15 p.m - 1:15 p.m: Barn Dance with Kim Forry and music by Furnace Mountain
Keep the dancing going with a barn dance led by Kim Forry. Come to dance and enjoy the music provided by Furnace Mountain.

1:00 p.m - 2:00 p.m: Flower Fest with Bees Wing Farm
Get creative and enjoy natural beauty while learning colour theory and floral design. Using found and foraged containers (or bring your own), create a beautiful floral arrangement to decorate your campsite. This activity is for kids 4-12, younger kids are welcome with a grownup to help with scissors.

1:00 p.m - 2:00 p.m: 2022 Band Contest Winners Pictrola
Hailing from the NOVA area the band strives to incorporate modern themes into traditional bluegrass, bringing elements from blues, swing, jazz, and rock into unique covers and originals.

2:00 p.m - 2:45 p.m: Instrument Petting Zoo
Future musicians can come and explore. Try out fiddle, guitar, banjo, mandolin, and more. Get an up-close look at the instruments you will see throughout the fest.

2:00 p.m - 2:45 p.m: Mink’s Miracle Medicine
After a decade in existence, Mink’s has expanded from a poem-proselytizing duo to an Americana collective caravan featuring the region’s strongest wingmen.

2:45 p.m - 3:45 p.m: Furnace Mountain and the City Stompers
Furnace Mountain creates music that is at times lively and raucous, with spirited fiddle melodies weaving in and around the powerful rhythms of the bass and bouzouki, and other times poignant and poetic, with sublime vocal harmonies beautifully interpreting some of the oldest songs ever written. Joined by the City Stompers, with their lively beat and captivating flatfooting dance steps.

3:00 p.m - 4:00 p.m: The Webley Twizzle Project
The Webley Twizzle Project is an instrumental parlor folk trio based in Central Virginia. TWTP plays both modern and traditional music, with enough swing, rags, novelty and original music thrown in to bring a classy and smooth musical experience to any stage or sitting room. Join them in the kid’s barn for family-friendly music for fans of all ages.

3:45 p.m - 4:30 p.m: Short Hill Mountain Boys
The Short Hill Mountain Boys play their own blend of bluegrass, old-time, cajun, classic country, and folk music with a rare passion.

4:30 p.m - 5:45 p.m: John McEuen and the Circle Band
John McEuen brings with him 45+ years of worldwide performing with his banjo, fiddle, guitar, and mandolin. Often referred to as ‘the String Wizard’, he weaves stories of his travels and family life, taking us through where his musical path has taken him.

5:45 p.m - 6:30 p.m: Lillian Hackett
At just 17 years old, Lillian Hackett is an emerging singer-songwriter from Lovettsville, VA. With a natural inclination toward New Americana music, she skillfully weaves a soulful and authentic musical experience, blending covers and originals.

6:30 p.m - 7:30 p.m: The Po Ramblin Boys
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys’ hard-driving approach to bluegrass music caught the ear of music lovers around the U.S. and overseas as well. The group feeds off of the energy of the sounds of the first-generation bluegrass musicians who were recorded 70 years ago, and they cling to that exciting core of the genre by design.

7:30 p.m - 8:30 p.m: The Woodshedders
The Woodshedders bring lyricism and musicality to fun, danceable shows that swerve through Honky-Tonk, Gypsy, Appalachian, and Vintage Rock n’ Roll, often in the same song. They are the host band of the Watermelon Pickers’ Fest.

8:30 p.m - 10:00 p.m: Miko Marks
Finding freedom through music is something that Miko Marks knows all too well. But it’s more than just freedom. It’s liberation. Deliverance. After living what seems to be multiple lives over, Miko has finally come into the life she was born to live. And she’s more than ready to live it to the fullest – one of truth, authenticity, vulnerability, joy and honesty.

10:00 p.m - 11:30 p.m: Larry Keel’s Electric Larry Land
Electric Larry Land is award-winning guitarist and songwriter Larry Keel’s uniquely gritty and suave original roots music applied to an electric format, creating what he calls a sonic“groove-and-vibe machine.

Saturday, September 7, 2024

Showers are available at the Chet Hobart Park from 9:00 a.m - 7:00 p.m

10:00 a.m - 11:00 a.m: Yoga with Anna Billman
Start your morning with a relaxing yoga session, energized for a great day of music.

11:00 a.m - 11:45 a.m: 2-Step Honky Tonk Dance Workshop with Becky Hill
Get ready for Melissa Wright’s Honky Tonk Revue with a 2-step dance workshop led by Becky Hill. You’ll be 2-stepping away at the Honky Tonk Revue.

11:00 a.m - 11:45 a.m: Watermelon T-Shirt Tie Dye
Bring your T-shirt (or hat, socks, handkerchief, and so on) for what has become a time-honored tradition at the Watermelon Pickers’ Fest. Decorate your own T-shirt with Sharpie tie-dye and proudly wear it at the fest. Limited t-shirts available for fest attendees aged 12 and younger.

11:30 a.m - 12:15 p.m: Wyatt Ellis
Listen to Wyatt Ellis and learn about his musical journey in an intimate workshop performance.

12:00 p.m - 12:45 p.m: Recycled Instruments and Masks
Bring your empty water bottles, paper rolls, and clean recyclables to repurpose and re-use. Make your own creative instrument or Mardi-Gras mask to use in the festival parade. We are welcoming donations of clean recyclables, including water bottles, cereal boxes, tissue boxes, and paper towel rolls. Donations of craft supplies and materials are also welcome. Drop off donations with a volunteer at the .

12:30 p.m - 2:00 p.m: Band Contest
The band contest is one of the primary ways we check out new bands to hire for future events. Show off for the audience, the judges, and the programming committee. And most importantly, join in the fun. Past band contest winners include a mix of established bands and pickers who met at a workshop or while picking around the campfire at the fest. From campfire to , you never know who might win.

1:00 p.m - 1:45 p.m: Parachutes and Piñatas
Have fun playing parachute games and celebrating the fest with a piñata full of musical surprises.

2:00 p.m - 2:45 p.m: Honky Tonk Revue
Two-step into the heart of Americana with the Saturday afternoon Honky-Tonk Revue. Featuring honky tonk and classic country tunes performed by Melissa Wright, Riley Kerns (Low Water Bridge Band), Lillian Hackett, Dwayne Brooke (The Woodshedders), Will Spaulding (The Woodshedders), Randy Thompson, and a two-step workshop by Becky Hill. Steeped in nostalgia as vibrant as a neon sign, bring along your dancing shoes and a partner and we’ll see you at the .

2:00 p.m - 2:15 p.m: Festival Parade
Bring your masks and instruments for a fun parade around the festival grounds. Join the fun and celebrate. Gather for the parade at 1:45, and we’ll start marching at 2:00.

3:00 p.m - 4:00 p.m: Wyatt Ellis
In October 2022, Wyatt performed alongside former Bluegrass Boy Peter Rowan and Grammy winner Molly Tuttle at Rowan’s induction into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. Wyatt was invited by his ultimate mandolin hero, Marty Stuart, to help kick off the Grand-Reopening of the Ellis Theater in Philadelphia, Mississippi. In February 2023, at 13 years old, he made his Grand Ole Opry debut appearance with bluegrass duo Dailey & Vincent.

4:00 p.m - 4:30 p.m: Band Contest Winners
Enjoy a performance from the 2024 band contest winners.

4:45 p.m - 5:45 p.m: Carsie Blanton
Carsie Blanton is a songwriter with hooks, chutzpah, and revolutionary optimism. Inspired by artist-activists including Nina Simone and Woody Guthrie, her catalog careens through American popular song from folk and swing to pop-punk protest anthems.

5:45 p.m - 6:30 p.m: The Plate Scrapers
Born from the tradition of Bluegrass jams and potlucks, The Plate Scrapers - Derek Kretzer (banjo), Andrew Jordan (guitar), Robbie Mann (fiddle), Jody Mosser (dobro), and Kevin Johnson (bass) have been putting in the work and showcasing their love for the genre since 2014.

6:30 p.m - 7:45 p.m: Della Mae
Della Mae is a GRAMMY-nominated, all-women string band made up of founder and fiddle player Kimber Ludiker, lead vocalist/guitarist Celia Woodsmith, guitarist Avril Smith, and bassist Vickie Vaughn.

7:45 p.m - 8:30 p.m: Carsie Blanton
Carsie Blanton is a songwriter with hooks, chutzpah, and revolutionary optimism. Inspired by artist-activists including Nina Simone and Woody Guthrie, her catalog careens through American popular song from folk and swing to pop-punk protest anthems.

8:30 p.m - 10:00 p.m: Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band
The Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band consists of outstanding musicians with over 100 years of combined recording and performance experience. Joining guitarist Peter Rowan are Chris Henry (mandolin and vocals), Max Wareham (banjo and vocals), Julian Pinelli (fiddle) and Eric Thorin (bass).

10:00 p.m - 11:30 p.m: Low Water Bridge Band
There’s a sound the Shenandoah River makes as it rumbles over old stones in the shallows. It sings songs the way they used to be – plain and honest. No frills, buckle that belt before you head to the hills and hollers. It’s there under a Virginia moon that you’ll find the Low Water Bridge Band.

Date: September 5 - 7, 2024

Location:

Clarke County Fairgrounds
890 West Main Street
Berryville, VA 22611

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