OUR HISTORY

For almost two decades, the citizens of Stapleton and visitors from surrounding areas have enjoyed Bluegrass music, arts & crafts, and food at the Stapleton Bluegrass Festival. Most visitors to the area do not know the history behind the festival – they just know that it provides a safe family environment where adults as well as children can enjoy a day of fun and good music.
In 1983, citizens gathered at the Stapleton Volunteer Fire Department to enjoy Bluegrass music while raising funds for the Fire Department. After seeing the success of the fund-raiser, Bill Stough, along with Betty Stough, Rothel and Ethel Goram, Royce Jerkins, Bubba Wiggins, and other caring citizens formed a committee to build a community park. The goal was to develop a central location where children could play, families could picnic, and citizens could enjoy music and entertainment.

Our Mission
As the primary fundraiser for Stapleton School, the Stapleton Bluegrass Festival was designed with the community in mind.
Our purpose is to not only raise funds for our children’s education, but also to increase community involvement by providing a place for people to be entertained while growing lasting relationships.
The Stapleton Bluegrass Festival is not only an outstanding musical event for our area, but it is also crucial to Stapleton School. As our primary annual fundraiser, this event provides much-needed resources to improve the academic and overall educational experience for our students. For example, profits from last year’s festival were used to help fund a significant campus-wide upgrade of classroom instructional technology. While these investments were a great start, there are many more improvements we hope to achieve for our students.