Home grown music festival
Nearly 10 years ago, my husband and I decided to have a music festival on our farm in Brookville, PA. We are located about 90 miles north of Pittsburgh. We started out very small, with 5 bands, and about 100 people showed up. I thought if we decided to do this, magically thousands of people would show up and it would turn into Woodstock! I was wrong.
We started with 5 bands and each year those bands became other bands, and introduced us to more bands, and we went out to see more and more music and made more and more friends. This has been a very slow growing, organic process. After 10 years, here we are with an attendance of about 1000 people and over 20 bands. I get so many requests and band submissions at this point that I have to turn many away just due to time constraints.
Our farm is almost 100 acres and our festival is unique in that we have the bands play in our very old barn, built in 1885. Looking out of the barn is a natural amphitheater made of grass and surrounded by trees. It is the perfect place to watch music. Attendees (FarmJammers) are free to camp out for the weekend anywhere they please. Some prefer to be near the barn, while others like to be tucked away in the woods.
The music goes all day and night from Friday until Sunday. This year the dates are July 7 - 9, 2017. It is coming up quick! I better get back to planning.
Here are some pictures taken over the years!!
View into the barn at night
The year the storm almost came!!
Bringing down the house
Aerial view
The disco ball in the barn
The barn, all lit up
this is amazing! I love going to shows. I can't even imagine starting one!
We had no idea what we were doing when we started! :-) Haha.
wow I love this story. I wish I was on the easy coast I would come in a heartbeat!
This is amazing...
I'd be curious to learn more about the performances and artists that play at your venue! The barn shots look super cool.
I would say the majority of the artists come from Pittsburgh and vicinity. There is a great music scene in Pittsburgh with lots of original artists and music. The best drummer to come out of PGH, Poogie Bell will be playing with his son. The kids group are super-talented jazz musicians, and Poogie has played with everyone from Chaka Khan to Vanessa Williams. We have a few artists from Philly, NYC, Jersey, Mike Dillon Band (formerly of Les Claypool) will be coming up from NOLA. If you fee like taking a road trip, I will send you tickets!
very nice, this year in my village I also was at a festival. 4th year now. started the same in the backyard. 350 people.. the name is kantjepop
Wow, I'm going to look that up. What kind of music do you like @rival?
This is an absolutely incredible opportunity to share music and art. @jodiegolier you put so much time and thought into making this an event that people look forward to every year. Great place for artists and musicians to share their craft.
Holy crap that bonfire though!
This would be so awesome to attend! Great job of putting it all together.
Would people be able to camp there at all?
Yes, camping is encouraged! It's a weekend-long event. The bonfire is the big event on Saturday night. We have fire spinners and everything!
That is so awesome. I'm getting excited for it and I can't go lol