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<< Previous   of   Next >> Kevin Nortz / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Poppy Wyatt (from left), Terry O'Brien and Larry Gilliam laugh after finishing a favorite bluegrass tune while playing with friends in the Darrington campgrounds during the annual Darrington Bluegrass Festival in 2007. (click to enlarge)   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Darrington bluegrass fest hits the highways 7/18/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Friday, July 18, 2008 Weeklong bluegrass jam in Darrington By Gale Fiege Herald Writer DARRINGTON -- Musicians have been arriving with tents since Saturday and they've been jamming in the Darrington Bluegrass Festival campground ever since. Billed as a three-day concert, the traditional American music festival is in reality a weeklong, nonstop bluegrass jam, said Frankie Nations, treasurer of the nonprofit festival. The official on-stage concerts of the 32nd annual festival are set to begin today and run through Sunday at the festival grounds on Highway 530, three miles west of Darrington. A musical destination for many, the festival also offers an economic boost to the town of Darrington, Mayor Joyce Jones said. "The festival is a real treat for everyone who goes, and we plan to go down there on Saturday and greet folks and invite them to come up to town," Jones said. "A lot of the campers will need to shop at our stores and pick up things at our Saturday open-air market." The festival features five headliner bands from around the country, including Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top X-press. But it also includes regional groups and several bluegrass bands from Snohomish and Skagit counties. For example, the Combinations, formerly of Darrington but now based in Snohomish, have been with the festival since its beginnings, Nations said. The Combinations are scheduled to perform at 11:45 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. And then there's Queens Bluegrass from Sedro-Woolley, which, like Darrington, has a notable population of ­bluegrass-loving Tarheels who hail originally from North Carolina. Queens Bluegrass is set to play at 7:30 tonight and 11 a.m. Sunday. The Three Generations, from Brier and Arlington, have been on stage at the festival for several years. The group is led by Harold Christensen, 75, who plays the dobro guitar. "This is a national bluegrass stage, the best in the Northwest with a reputation for great talent from around the country," Christensen said. "It's nice for us because the festival is local. It's the highlight of our year." The Three Generations also includes Christensen's mandolin-playing daughters and his grandson the fiddler, along with several friends. They are set to perform on stage at 9 tonight and 2 p.m. Sunday. "And in between, we're planning to jam with all the people we know," Christensen said. Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com. It's all bluegrass Darrington Bluegrass Festival, on Highway 530 just west of Darrington, 6 to 11 p.m. today, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Cost is $15 to $20 for a day pass and free for children ages 12 and younger. For more information, go online to www.glacierview.net/bluegrass or see the story on page 15 of today's A&E section.

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