Bluegrass on Main Street brings music to the square

• Bluegrass on Main Street brought music lovers to downtown Newark Saturday.
• The festival is in its second year and featured main stage entertainment and after-hours performances
• Visitors could also enjoy craft beer and food from local food trucks.

NEWARK – Sarah and Jeremy Hess set their lawn chairs up on West Main Street Saturday to listen to the Wayfarers.

They watched their son, Eli, play with other children as they took in the atmosphere of Bluegrass on Main Street.

The Pickerington couple heard about the festival on the radio and decided to drive to Newark for some music. They planned to come back to the festival in the evening to hear headliner Mountain Heart.

"It's a great night for bluegrass," Jeremy said.

He and his wife weren't the only ones who felt that way. The roped-off area of West Main Street, between Third and Fourth streets, was busy with listeners enjoying craft beer, food and music.

"We really like that there's an opportunity to get out in the community and see different age groups enjoying great music," Sarah said.

In its second year, Bluegrass on Main Street featured Frosty Morning Bluegrass, the Wayfarers, New Outlook, Dale Ann Bradley as well as Mountain Heart on its main stage.

The music continued after 8 p.m. with six bands — Northwest Territory, Andy Carlson and Casey Cook, Timberline, Smokey Row String Band, Fox N Hounds and Sugar Creek Bluegrass — performing at downtown restaurants.

Several hours into the event, organizer Tom Atha said he was pleased with the turnout.

"Everything feels like it's going smoothly," he said. "I'm seeing a lot of friendly faces who were here last year."

Atha said he was especially looking forward to the after-hours performances Saturday evening.

"It's my dream to walk around town and skip from one venue to the next and listen to music," he said. "This is the one night a year that exists."

For fiddle player Kenzie Maynard, playing with The Wayfarers on Saturday brought back fond memories of her college days.

A 2015 graduate of Denison University, Maynard majored in bluegrass performance. Although she lives in Columbus, she still has a strong connection to Licking County.

"I just love being able to play close to home," she said.

She said she was inspired to see so many enthusiastic people in the audience.

"Every year, (this festival) continues to grow," she said.

Michael and Lonnie Pittman came to Newark from Glenford with plans to meet friends downtown.

They stumbled across the festival last year and had such a good time, they decided to come back.

They said they were enjoying the music and the atmosphere.

"We wouldn't go Columbus to do this," Michael said. "We're glad that it's in Newark."

ajeffries@newarkadvocate.com

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Twitter: @amsjeffries