Now in its 4th year, the Winter Village Bluegrass Festival continues to bring the best acts in bluegrass music to Ithaca and the Finger Lakes. Our festival home, La Tourelle Resort, is a music lovers paradise and great place to spend a January weekend. This year, after two years of selling out our Saturday night Big Show at the Hangar Theatre, we are excited to move the Big Show downtown to the venerable State Theatre, Ithaca’s favorite music room. We are also now offering Saturday afternoon and evening music in a variety of downtown venues and working with three great city center hotels/inns to provide some interesting and affordable accommodations close the music and other downtown attractions. Thanks for visiting our web page and we hope to see you next month. You’ll find more information on festival artists and events by scrolling down on this page or by checking out other pages on this site.
This year, our headliner artists, the Claire Lynch Band and Balsam Range, are here for the whole weekend of performances and workshops. We decided to get the performers off the icy roads for at least a couple of days and let them enjoy a warm weekend interacting with fans, listeners and fellow players. Our bands are recent award winners and beloved by fans – Claire Lynch won the 2013 IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year and Balsam Range won the 2013 IBMA Album of the Year for Papertown and was nominated for 7 other awards in 2013 and is a previous IBMA Song of the Year winner.
Rounding out the Winter Village lineup is the Molly Tuttle Trio an exciting young trio from Boston and the Berkelee College of Music, Northern PA superpickers The Hickory Project, Jim Gaudet & the Railroad Boys, Chad Darou & Stealing Time, and Paris Texas featuring Bobby Henrie. Other bands and events may be added as the schedule and downtown venues are finalized.
WINTER VILLAGE BREAKING NEWS
December Donations – Bluegrass Giving Back
Winter Village is donating $5 per Saturday Big Show ticket purchased in December to the Cancer Resource Center and the Ithaca Children’s Garden. Enjoy great music while supporting 2 fine Ithaca non-profit organizations. Click here to learn more about these great organizations that are doing so much for our community.
Winter Village Lite – 2 Day Pass Now Offered for Saturday and Sunday
If you can only spend one night in Ithaca, consider purchasing the $50 2-day festival lite pass. This ticket will allow you to attend all Saturday events at La Tourelle, Saturday afternoon concerts either at La Tourelle or the newly opened Dewitt Park Inn, the Saturday night Big Show at the State Theatre and the Sunday morning Spirit Songs and Stories Show at La Tourelle. Visit Tickets page for more information or to purchase tickets. Consider spending Saturday night at a downtown inn. Click here for details.
Gift Certificates Available
This month is about giving. Why not give the gift of music to your music loving friends and family. Winter Village will email (or mail if needed) your stocking stuffer ticket certificate to you or to the lucky recipient. If interested in this option, email info@wintervillagebluegrass.org.
Ithaca Youth Fiddle Orchestra – Saturday, January 25
Sign up your young fiddler or violinist for the 1st annual Winter Village Fiddle Orchestra. It’s a full day of group lessons including lunch and healthy snacks, then a performance at the Saturday night Big Show at the State Theatre. It should be a memorable experience for these young musicians, their parents/caregivers, and those in attendance at the State Theatre. Click here to learn more.
Tickets
Some new ticketing options have been recently added including a Festival 2 Day Pass (Saturday & Sunday only for $50), the Youth Fiddle Orchestra ($50), and a Friday day pass for La Tourelle workshops, opening reception, and evening concert for La Tourelle ($35). For ticket details and links click here…
Accommodations
La Tourelle is nearly filled. You can still reserve a room for Friday and Saturday night at the main festival site for a very reasonable rate, but not for long. We have also arranged discounted rates at 3 downtown inns – the Holiday Inn, the Dewitt Park Inn, and Argos. Click here to see room rates and for contact information to reserve your room at La Tourelle.
Winter Village Music Camp – January 10 – 12 at La Tourelle
The Winter Village Music Camp will be a fun weekend with great teachers and classes, jamming and a very special Saturday night faculty concert at La Tourelle. We have 70 people registered as of December 1 and will cap attendance at 100. Download Music Camp handout here. Download registration form here.
Questions?
Feel free to contact Festival Chief Rick Manning if you have any questions about the Music Camp or Bluegrass Festival weekends.
