KSUT Public Radio and Tico Time have announced a partnership to present the fourth annual ‘Tico Time Bluegrass Festival’ at Tico Time Riverside Resort in Aztec, New Mexico, May 17-19, 2024. The leave-no-trace, family-friendly event will include performances by Railroad Earth, Elephant Revival, Kitchen Dwellers, The Lil Smokies, Larry Keel’s Electric Larry Land, Sticks N’ Thorns, and more than 17 other bands.
Tickets for Tico Time Bluegrass are on sale now at ticotimebluegrass.com. ‘Super Early Ticket’ 3-day general admission price is $189; it includes ‘walk-in camping. The price will increase when that tier sells out.
KSUT also announced that Pagosa Folk N’ Bluegrass will not be held next summer.
The two entities will also present additional live music events separately during the year. Among other events, Tico Time will host the reggae and world music festival, Rise N’ Vibes, the weekend prior to Tico Time Bluegrass.
KSUT will present the 28th Annual Four Corners Folk Festival over Labor Day weekend on Reservoir Hill in Pagosa Springs and is also working on additional live events in Durango next summer.
“While we are disappointed not to host Pagosa Folk N’ Bluegrass, we are thrilled to partner with Tico Time for what promises to be an unforgettable weekend,” said KSUT Executive Director Tami Graham. “Two festivals that are favorites of music fans across the region are merging into one incredible weekend.”
“The Tico Time Bluegrass Festival strives to cultivate the community and camaraderie that is deeply rooted in bluegrass music,” said Tierro Lee, the event’s main organizer and founder of The Tierro Band, which will appear at the festival. “Curating a space where we can come together to express ourselves through our collective love of music, adventure, and nature is integral to our mission.”
General admission tickets include three days of music and entertainment across three stages, walk-in camping, beach and swimming, stand-up paddle boards, water slide jump, inner tube slide, beach volleyball court, hiking trails, and access to over 82 acres of the Costa Rican-themed resort.
On-site accommodations include full hookup RV sites, car camping, glamp tent rentals, and shaded, riverside tent camping. Campers have access to permanent bathroom and shower facilities, food and craft vendors, drinking water, a general store, and resort amenities.
Off-site accommodations in nearby Durango, Aztec, and Ignacio offer a full range of budget to five-star motels and hotels, restaurants, and other activities.
KSUT Development and Music Director Chris Aaland, who books artists to appear on Reservoir Hill and other KSUT live events, acknowledged that competition and rising inflationary costs led to the cancellation of Pagosa Folk N’ Bluegrass.
“When we took over the two Pagosa festivals from Dan Appenzeller and Crista Munro of FolkWest in October 2019, we had no idea of the hurdles that the pandemic and ensuing economic downturn would have on the festival world,” he said. “The pandemic cancelled our first three festivals. Once we returned with the Four Corners Folk Festival over Labor Day Weekend in 2021, the cost of lights, sound, lodging, hospitality, equipment rental, and artist fees had risen by as much as 25 percent.”
“Plus, additional festivals either sprung up or resumed production. On the Western Slope, that meant five bluegrass-heavy events within eight weeks of each other,” he added, citing Durango Bluegrass Meltdown, Tico Time Bluegrass, Pagosa Folk N’ Bluegrass, Palisade Roots & Bluegrass, and Telluride Bluegrass all being held from mid-April to mid-June. “Festival goers, many of whom were still hesitant to attend large events after the pandemic, often had to make choices between the five events.”
Aaland said KSUT’s Development team is excited about what festivarians can expect at Tico Time. “We’ve all had a blast at Tico Time Bluegrass the past three years,” he said. “To partner with them is a dream come true. And we’re committed to making Reservoir Hill’s signature event – the Four Corners Folk Festival – as successful as possible.”
“We’ve already begun work on next year’s Four Corners Folk Festival, which we hope will be the biggest and best event ever on Reservoir Hill,” said Graham.
The 28th annual Four Corners Folk Festival will be held August 30-September 1, 2024. Tickets to that event are expected to go on-sale in February at ksutpresents.org.
For more information, contact KSUT Festival Director Jill Davis at festivaldirector@ksut.org or 970-563-5788.