Pick any weekend during the months of September and October in our area and you’ll have a hard time finding one that doesn’t have a festival already booked. With one exception – Labor Day weekend.
Organizing any kind of an event on Labor Day weekend is a gamble. Being the last unofficial weekend of the summer – many are trying to squeeze out their last bit of fun before reality creeps back in. So when Glenda Miller, owner and operator of Redbone Willy’s, decided to throw a big party last year during Labor Day weekend, it was a gamble. She went into her inaugural Bluegrass & Peddlers Festival with no expectations. She printed 500 tickets. To her amazement, over 1000 sold.
Now she is looking ahead to this year’s festival. So what does Glenda do? She’s tripling everything – tripling the music, tripling the amount of food vendors, and yes, she’s even tripling the amount of port-a-potties on site. That’s a pretty bold move. But Glenda will tell you – she’s an eternal optimist. But more importantly than that, she’ll tell you that she has some very loyal customers. At the end of the day – they want to see her succeed.
Sometimes it’s not how much we pay for something, but rather who we pay that matters. There is something about supporting a local farmer, a local mom-and-pop store, or even a neighborhood lemonade stand that makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside.
That’s the plan for Glenda’s second annual Bluegrass & Peddlers Festival. She’s going to host the party. She just wants you to come out and relax. After all it’s Labor Day weekend. You’re supposed to take a break.
WANT TO GO?:
WHAT: Redbone Willy’s Bluegrass & Peddlers Festival featuring Mama Said, Buncombe Turnpike, The Dollar Brothers, and more.
WHERE: Redbone Willy’s, 6533 Fallston Road, Lawndale
WHEN: 12 to 9 p.m. on Sat., Sept. 5
