Bill Monroe Bean Blossom photo collage from a 2004 bluegrass festival program.
In October of 1951, Bill Monroe traveled to Bean Blossom to perform at the Brown County Jamboree. He fell in love with the area immediately, and in December of 1951 decided to purchase the property.
The large crowds coming to the Jamboree caused traffic and parking problems. More seating was needed, so construction began on a building to house the shows.
Built to seat 2,500, the“ barn” was low and dark, with rough benches for seats, and included a radio control room near the stage for the radio broadcasts. The barn remained the primary site of weekly shows until the late 1980s.
Weekly attendees from the county sustained the Jamboree through the difficult World War II years and beyond. Beginning in the 1960s, bluegrass festivals began to draw national and international fans.
In June 1967, Bill Monroe held his first twoday bluegrass festival, which he called a Bluegrass Celebration, in the old barn. That first festival was so well attended that Bill decided to build an outdoor stage at the bottom of a wooded amphitheater to accommodate a bigger audience. Attendees gathered in the fields, the woods, and at campsites, to pick and sing the music they loved.
The 1968 festival attracted ten thousand people from all over the country. By 1969 the event was billed as“ Bill Monroe’ s Bluegrass Festival” and the location referred to as the“ Brown County Jamboree Park.”
The June event has become the oldest continuous running bluegrass festival in the country.
Despite his death in 1996, the sounds of bluegrass still echo through the hills and trees of Bean Blossom and the spirit of Bill Monroe is all around.
This year’ s Americana Bean event includes: Jan Bell with Marina Stant & Devin Brown Tom Roznowski & Carolyn Dutton Elizabeth Lee • Tim Grimm CPR Revival • and more.
The Bill Monroe Bluegrass Festival highlights: Ralph Stanley II & The Clinch Mountain Boys Lonsesome River Band • Special Consensus Po Ramblin Boys • Clay Hess Band and many others. Lineups are subject to change. For more details, ticket, and camping reservations contact the Bill Monroe Music Park & Campground at billmonroemusicpark. com or 812.988-6422. •
May / June 2025 • Our Brown County 45