Rockygrass Academy 2017

**Stevo75** · Jul-20-2017, 1:05pm

Anyone going to be at Rockygrass Academy this year? I just returned from putting my car in line at the park (the lineup to enter the campground this Sunday).

**Stu Thompson** · Jul-20-2017, 2:45pm

I am going this year. I won't be up there until Sunday. I am looking forward to the week.

**KirbyCool** · Jul-20-2017, 6:05pm

I'm flying out there on Saturday! I'll see you in line.

**Stevo75** · Jul-20-2017, 10:53pm

I'll be the guy with the mandolin.

**jazzjune18** · Jul-21-2017, 8:55am

I'll be there. First time. Wow, your comment on putting your car in line freaks me out a little. I guess I didn't realize what I'm getting myself into. I was planning on camping during the week but not during the festival. Am I gonna be out of luck by just showing up first thing Monday morning(as far as a campsite is concerned)?? I was hoping to do fiddle as a first choice and advanced mando as a second but didn't make the lottery so ended up buying an intermediate mando that came up last week.

One more stupid question (having just moved to CO). So you keep your mando in your tent at night or your car?(just concerned with the chill at night)??

**Stevo75** · Jul-21-2017, 9:35am

You won't have to worry about the chill at night. More troublesome is the heat during the day. It has been very hot all summer. Only down to the mid/high 60s at night (which is no problem for an instrument) and mid 90s during the day.

During the day, if I don't have my mando with me I will keep it in my tent under a blanket. Hopefully I will find a shady campsite and all will be fine.

You'll still get a camping spot if you show up late. That's not a problem. But you will have to take whatever space is left. Usually that means no shade and/or next to the porta-johns...

You won't be able to keep your car with you unless you bought a vehicle pass as well as a camping pass. So you'll have no choice there. Plan accordingly so that you'll have everything you need without your car there. You'll park it about 1/2 mile or so away. So you can always get back to your car if you need it. They run shuttles back and forth but that may be during the festival only. Let me know if you have any more questions. I've been to Rocky grass a ton of times.

**Don Grieser** · Jul-21-2017, 1:51pm

I went to the first Academy (1996?) and I had Butch Baldassari teach 2 other students and me. Attended up until it got too much of a hassle to get in. Sure was a good time and learned a bunch from some great players. Go pick at Mike Hornick's (Shanti guitars) camp. Always lots of fun. Enjoy!

**Stevo75** · Jul-22-2017, 4:13pm

Hey JazzJune, I just found out that you can leave your car on-site until the festival starts. You cannot leave it in the camping area unless you have a vehicle pass or unless you're sleeping in your vehicle (you can't have both a tent and a car unless you have a pass). But you can leave the car in a parking area until Thursday when they'll need that space for the festival camping. Then it will have to go elsewhere.