Blue Ridge Music Center opens for season May 4
Visitors invite to enjoy Midday Mountain Music, museum and gift shop
(Galax, Va.) – The Blue Ridge Music Center, located at milepost 213 on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Galax, will begin welcoming visitors for the season on Thursday, May 4, and will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday until May 20. Beginning May 25, it will be open daily.
The popular Midday Mountain Music session will begin on May 4. These free presentations featuring local musicians sharing tales and tunes are offered from noon to 4 p.m. every day the Music Center is open on the covered breezeway.
Midday Mountain Music schedule:
· Mondays: The Buck Mountaineers
· Tuesdays: First of Tuesday of the month – Corbin Hayslett & Friends; second Tuesday of the month – Jackson Cunningham & Friends; third Tuesday of the month – Cedar Ridge; fourth Tuesday of the month – Jackson Cunningham & Friends
· Wednesdays: Bill and Maggie Anderson
· Thursdays: Scott Freeman and Willard Gayheart
· Fridays: Open Jam with Lynn Wolf and Jim Purcell
· Saturdays: First Saturday of the month – Cedar Ridge; second Saturday of the month – Blue Ridge Ramblers; third Saturday of the month – Sugarloaf Mountain Band; fourth Saturday of the month – guest artists
· Sundays: Fisher Peak Timber Rattlers
The award-winning Roots of American Music Museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., when the visitor center is open. The museum showcases the compelling story of the region’s rich musical heritage. This year, the Music Center was ranked No. 4 in a list of the Top 10 free museums in the country by USA Today readers.
Visitors can shop at the America’s National Parks gift store for Blue Ridge Parkway items and Blue Ridge Music Center branded items, including shirts and hats.
The Roots of American Music concert series, held on Saturday evenings, begins on May 27. Concerts are held weekly from Memorial Day through Labor Day, featuring talented regional and national bluegrass, old-time, and other American roots-based music in the outdoor amphitheater. The complete lineup of performers and ticket links can be found at BlueRidgeMusicCenter.org.
About the Blue Ridge Music CenterThe Blue Ridge Music Center celebrates the music and musicians of the mountains. The Music Center is a national park facility, a major attraction along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and a venue partner of The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail and Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina. The Blue Ridge Parkway/National Park Service maintains and operates the facility, and staffs the Music Center Visitor/Interpretive Center. The programs are managed, coordinated, promoted, and produced by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, a nonprofit partner organization. For more information, visit BlueRidgeMusicCenter.org.
About the Blue Ridge ParkwayThe 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway connects Shenandoah National Park to the north with Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the south. The route travels the crests, ridges, and valleys of five major mountain ranges, encompassing several geographic and vegetative zones ranging from 600 to more than 6,000 feet above sea level. It provides visitors with many varied vistas of scenic Appalachian landscapes ranging from forested ridgetops and mountain slopes to rural farm lands and urban areas. The parkway offers a “ride-a-while, stop-a-while” experience that includes scenic pullouts, recreation areas, historic sites, and visitor contact stations. It is known nationally and internationally for its designed landscape as a scenic motorway. nps.gov/blri/
