For thoroughbred racing, it’s the Kentucky Derby. Golf has the Masters. The greatest spectacle in racing? The Indianapolis
500.

"Traditional bluegrass? That’s Bean Blossom.
Only a handful of bluegrass festivals have accomplished as
much and lasted so long to have achieved first-name status among
the bluegrass and old-time country faithful. Names like Galax, Winfield, and Telluride. To hear each, condensed to its geographic essence, evokes instantaneous recognition and perspective in bluegrass fans. Against that backdrop, Bean Blossom’s reputation is so potent, that American Songwriter magazine just named it the #1 Bluegrass festival in America. Known formally as Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Festival, the
59-year-old, four-day, undiluted, deep-rooted traditional bluegrass event held every June in Bean Blossom, Indiana, truly is “Ground Zero,” as Sam Bush called it. The name is so universally recognized that when I was graciously invited to sit in with the house band on stage at one of Tokyo’s bluegrass clubs, I mentioned that I lived just 45 minutes from Bean Blossom, and even the audience that couldn’t understand English knew that
name enough to applaud open-heartedly.

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