It s one of the best chances for citybound folk to see pigs, goats and polled Herefords. There s enough fudge for sale to veneer Freedom Hall. The World Championship Horse Show offers the richest purses in the saddlebred world. The Midway will fill your stomach, then yank it halfway to Corbin. It s also comfortable it s the largest air-conditioned fair in the country.
Organizers describe it as that apparent oxymoron, a family-driven rock and roll party.
But the music comes in the styles of the 50s through the 70s, rather than any more recent, polarizing genre. The Strictly Bluegrass Festival Iroquois Amphitheater, Iroquois Park, Taylor Blvd. and Southern Pkwy. Past years performers have included Jimmy Martin, Ralph Stanley, the Osborne Brothers, Del McCoury, J.D. Crowe, Larry Sparks, the Country Gentlemen and the late father of bluegrass himself. It was at one time a peripatetic event, with sessions all over town, including on the Belle of Louisville steamboat. The roster of storytellers has included, in the words of founder and guiding spirit Lee Pennington, the people who, if you had a storytelling heaven, they would be the first ones to go in, and they wouldn t have to stop in Atlanta on the way.