Festivalgoers from all around were brought together this weekend to bond over one common interest: mountain music.
MerleFest is an annual music festival in Wilkesboro. Celebrating its 38th anniversary this weekend, the four day event brought live music, jam bands, vendors and more.
Billy Ray Summerlin, a Wilkesboro local, said he has attended the festival for 38 years — since it began in 1988.
Summerlin said it started with a handful of bands playing in the back of a flatbed truck to honor Merle Watson, son of Doc Watson. Ever since then, the event has taken off and made its name as a staple of the local community.
“We’ve had basically some of the biggest names in here over the time, and it’s just kept growing into what it is today,” Summerlin said. “I think it’s just the music and the atmosphere, you know, everybody just enjoys it, and it’s a lot of variety.”
Bruce Bay, another dedicated festivalgoer, said he has been attending MerleFest for 20 years.
“I was really new to picking bluegrass when I came. I hadn’t played guitar in 20 years,” Bay said. “Everybody was so nice and put up with me digging my way through these songs and stuff, and now I’m the old fart that I was learning from back in those days, and it’s nice to pay back.”
Bay said the appeal of MerleFest lies in the community and its shared interest in music.
“It is the camaraderie and the interaction with other people who are here purely for the music and not for anything else,” Bay said.
Many of the attendees come from outside of town, stretching all the way out of state. Jill Harris, a sculptor from Sandsational Sand Sculpting, said their company is based in Florida, but this is their second year crafting a sand sculpture at Merlefest.
“It’s our 30th year; we’re pretty proud of that,” Harris said. “We go around the world doing everything from festivals, museums, resort hotels, corporate clients like Coke and Pepsi,” Harris said. “We can do everything from art replicas, like a room brand, to something as fun as making, you know, raccoons at a music festival, so we’re really diverse in our skill level.”
Harris said that even though they aren’t from Wilkesboro, MerleFest still feels like a celebration of community for them.
“We tell everybody about MerleFest,” Harris said. “It’s the atmosphere, it’s the vibe, it’s the music. Everybody is here because they absolutely love it. They love the music and everything that goes with it.”
