Telluride PhotosPhotos of Telluride Ski Area, Snowboarding, Hiking

The bluegrass festival box office has been setup for some time now, typically one of the first structures to be plopped down — situated right next to the post office.  This is where you go to either purchase a ticket, pick up your ticket at will call, or exchange your ticket for a wristband.  You can also pick up an official Telluride Bluegrass Festival program which provides a schedule, details about the musicians who will be performing, as well as other useful information about the festival.

There is an official public bulletin board just outside the box office (hidden behind the cars below) which allows for people to post notices if they have extra tickets to see or are seeking tickets.   So far, I’ve seen a message for a $155 four day pass and another for someone seeking a Telluride Town Park camping pass.  Based on other sources of information, my suspicion is that the festival will not sell out and there will be extras available for purchase at either early bird rates ($155) or lower on the street come Thursday morning.

You can see that Ajax — the pointy mountain in the background — received a dusting of snow overnight.  This has been happening for the past 2 or 3 nights with temps dipping down to below freezing, especially at higher elevations.

Those festivarians who are camping early are definitely getting the brunt of the weather.  The forecast for the festival calls for progressively nicer weather … with Saturday and Sunday both being sunny and in the mid 70′s.

I took a walk through the Telluride Town Park campground this afternoon checking out all the festivarians who have arrived for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival which officialy starts this coming Thursday and runs through Sunday.   It is quite a ritual for some folks to come out here early and setup camp … often in the exact same locations year after year.   Some setups are quite elaborate with couches and of course ornimentations.  Below is a shot taken from the Telluride Town Park campground.

The photograph directly above is of the construction of the soundboard island which is in the middle of the venue.  You can also see the frame of the speaker tower which is colored yellow to the right of the stage.

Check back for Telluride Bluegrass updates.

The festivarians have arrived in Telluride Town Park.

Many campers had arrived about a week prior to the start of the Telluride Bluegrass festival and have quite elaborate campsite setups including couches, stoves, full bars, etc. I noticed a sign which said everything needs to be removed by the monday after the festival by noon … ouch!

The Telluride Bluegrass Festival is about to take place in Telluride, officially starting on Thursday morning. I don’t have a ticket yet, but am hoping for a cheap four day pass to be available on the street Thursday morning. I’ve had good luck over the past five years or so getting a 4-day pass for about $120 – $150 from people looking to unload their extra bluegrass festival pass. However, last year was a lot tighter and recall being very very lucky to even get a pass at all! Nonetheless, I’m thinking that with the economy the way it is year we might not see as many attendees to the bluegrass festival in Telluride.

In any case, it’s an interesting lineup which includes most of the “bluegrass regulars” such as Sam Bush, Peter Rowan, Jerry Douglass, Emmy Lou Harris, Yonder Mountain String Band, Bela Fleck … with the addition of bluegrass “jambands” Railroad Earth and Cornmeal. There’s also the non-bluegrass additions of Elvis Costello and David Byrne (of the Talking Heads).

I should have some photos of performers and crowd scenes throughout the weekend. I’ve noticed over the years that it’s often difficult to get ideal lighting on performers who take the main stage for good photos … since there’s really never much in the way of direct light througout the day except an hour here or there.

As the Summer Solstice quickly approaches, the Town of Telluride is fully immersed (or overrun) by the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. The 35th anniversary festival has produced an excellent line up which includes a closing act tonight by a reunion of Leftover Salmon. My favorite performer, Peter Rowan, will also be playing this afternoon. The weather has finally turned for the better over the past week with more typical June summer days. It’ll be interesting to see how the rest of the summer’s weather unfolds given the epic winter (snow and cold) we’ve just had!