05/25/2026
The Mountain Roots Bluegrass Festival came together through a lot of hard work and dedication, and there are many people who deserve recognition for making it happen.
For 10 days leading up to the event, we watched the weather nonstop. One day gave us hope, and the next day took it away. Within 24 hours of the festival, we had six different weather models and not one of them agreed. We watched hourly as each model changed and continued to show something different.
Anyone who has ever been involved in planning a music festival knows these events cannot simply be moved to the next weekend. Many of our bands were booked a year in advance, so rescheduling was never an option. At that point, all that could help was prayers and Jesus.
We thought we had finally caught the weather break we had been hoping for and delayed the start of the festival. Then we made the difficult decision to delay it again, believing that would be enough. Unfortunately, the break we thought we saw did not come until late afternoon, and the rain continued longer than expected. But when it finally cleared, the sun came out and the venue looked absolutely beautiful.
Even through all the uncertainty, our vendors stayed committed and supported us however they could. We also completely understood those who could not risk their products being damaged by the rain.
The bands stayed positive, the food trucks stayed busy, ran out of some
of their favorite dishes, and the crowd showed up in an incredible way. People kept coming despite the weather, walking through mud and rain just to be there. We are beyond thankful for the support from this community.
We truly needed a day to recover before reflecting back on such a wonderful event.
I can truly say we had an amazing team that worked for months on this event. Without Patty and Steve Raby, April Tallant, Peggy James, Tim Moses, and so many others, we would not have gotten where we were.
Dean Cook and the Cullasaja Fire Department deserve a huge shoutout for managing all of the traffic, parking, and crowd flow throughout the festival, working from dawn to dusk to keep everything running smoothly.
Tim Moses brought invaluable experience from years of owning Senoia Dirt Track, helping us navigate the mud, crowds, and every challenge that came our way with a positive attitude. Nothing ever seemed too crazy for him, and he stayed positive through it all.
Lisa Caipo stepped up and took the lead in arranging our bands. Randy at the radio station offered tremendous support throughout the event. Jason Armistead worked tirelessly to keep WiFi running across the venue through the downpours. Dave Linn gave encouragement and advice from the very beginning and helped keep followers of What’s Happening in Franklin updated about delays and festival information.
We also had so many vendors open their hearts and donate items made with so much love for the raffles benefiting Kaylee’s Closet. Dawson, one of the sweetest, kindest, youngest entrepreneurs, stepped up to the plate and inspired others to give as well. May is Foster Kid awareness month and to have the opportunity to introduce Kaylees closet to the community was very special. Kaylees closet works endlessly to support our foster kids and has been a part of this community for many years now . Patty Raby has the most heart touching story ever on how Kaylees closet began . The love selflessness is amazing with this organization that was founded by Patty and her husband Steve .
I could go on and on. I did not see one vendor complain they always had smiles. When the sun finally came out, my heart was so happy to see all the happiness around the venue. The chairs were filled, people were dancing, the food truck lines were long, and everyone shared the sweetest comments.
I was overwhelmed when I woke up this morning to all the messages from our community and our sweet vendors thanking us for the festival. I am truly humbled and feel so blessed to be part of this, and even more blessed to have worked right beside the best team ever.
When it was all said and done and everyone had left, we looked around and noticed the park looked like no one had even been there. Other than the freshly plowed fields now ready for planting . 😊There was no trash on the ground. It was left clean, and everyone left with smiles.
The smiles and gratitude made standing in the rain worth it all.
We learned a lot this year and lots of notes have been made.
We love you, Macon County. See you next year.
P.S if you did not get your festival Tshirt we have them on sale for $10 stop by Highlands Riverbend camp office to pick up.
