Bluegrass First Class

Bluegrass First Class offers an up-close-and-personal bluegrass experience, with hotel room doors flung open to fellow festival-goers and impromptu jam sessions spilling out of hallways, stairwells and even some of the elevators. "The idea is for people to be able to pick in the rooms, up and down the halls, in every crevice and corner," Harkey said. "If people want to listen to a jam, they can just walk down from the stages and listen to them."

What sets a festival like Bluegrass First Class apart from others like it, Harkey said, is his dedication to recognizing bluegrass in its distilled, unadulterated form. While many acoustic groups embrace the bluegrass label, Harkey hones in on those that eat, sleep and breathe the music as it was meant to be played. "Bluegrass is its own genre, it's not just somebody playing acoustic music somewhere. There's a lot of that," he said. "Bluegrass is beautiful music, and if you want to hear what it really sounds like within the pillars of Bluegrass, this is the show to come to."

2027 Schedule

Friday · 1:00pm to 10:30pm
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Lonesome River Band
David Parmley
Nick Chandler & Delivered
501 Central

Saturday · 12:00pm to 10:30pm
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
Authentic Unlimited
Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out
501 Central
Nick Chandler & Delivered
The Emorys

Sunday · 9:00am to 10:00am
The Emorys, winners of the 2026 Bluegrass Showdown