Triple Threat Festival Weekend: Freshgrass, Grand Point North and Festival at the Farm

Decisions, decisions. It can be tough when you are chasing those end of summer blues and getting out to take in the last of the warmer weather weekends of music, food and fun. Luckily for those still running down the dream of jam packed music schedules this coming weekend is full of choices up here in New England. 

There are few views that I see regularly which take my breath away each and every time I see them. Coming up over the hill from I-89 before descending down into Burlington is one of them. The diamond glistening surface of Lake Champlain laid out before the Adirondack’s on the other side. Its like a damn painting, but its not. Its actually real. Grace Potter’s Grand Point North fest gets that as its backdrop as it takes place at Waterfront Park. This year’s line up is especially stacked with folk legends Jackson Browne and Ani DiFranco lining that slightly larger font at the top of the festival poster. As always Grace Potter is sure to put on one hell of a show to close out both nights, but its the local acts on the bill that have us especially stoked about the 2 day shindig on the water. If you happen to be heading to Burly this weekend for GPN do not miss Saturday’s Clever Girls set at 4:40 and Sunday’s day open at 2:15 with Julia Caesar. Trust us on those two. Other notable acts we love: Darlingside, Caroline Rose and the always electric Nathaniel Rateliff. You can’t go wrong with the view and having the soundtrack provided by this stellar line up is the icing on the cake…you know, before the actual ice comes and covers Lake Champlain.

Straddling state lines and heading directly south down Rt 7 for 3-ish hours puts you at Freshgrass Festival. While one may take the name of this one for a straight bluegrass festival, I assure you it is much more. Ranging from country legends to the songwriteriest of songwriter types (and of course a healthy dose of bluegrass to boot) the festival has grown and grown over the relatively short time in existence. Our biggest problem is trying to take in all the music and not finding ourselves wandering the halls of Mass MoCa to enjoy all the brilliant contemporary art they have on display. So, if you are heading out to North Adams and the beautiful Berkshires we have a couple suggestions for you. Get down early for Friday as it is a powerhouse of a night. Rhiannon Giddens, Della Mae and Yonder Mountain String Band among a slew of other acts. Saturday is a long one with pop up concerts and regular stage sets. We recommend Bela Fleck, Upstate and Darol Anger’s sets as a starter and drift around. Alison Brown’s Grateful Dead set will be a favorite of the weekend and sure to be star studded. Sunday, Sunday Sunday…Twisted Pine, I’m With Her, Molly Tuttle and our bud Izzy Heltai with a pop up. And, well, you know all the other amazing stuff as well!

Finally, turn your headlights eastward on the highway to Canton, MA for Festival at the Farm! Mandolin Orange is enough to get us to a festival weekend, but the rest of the line up is mighty exciting as well. Alongside Mandolin Orange on Saturday we are pumped for Amos Lee, The Ghost of Paul Revere, Will Dailey and guitar master Lyle Brewer on the Garden Stage. Sunday is mixed with a whole slew of friends that we highly suggest checking out. Upstate is blowing up the festival scene this year, The Suitcase Junket is always mind blowing, Ali Mcguirk may have the greatest voice to ever grace a stage and The Silks will truly get you moving. If there is a festival that all you Boston area folks need to get to without going too far from home, well, this one is it.

So, cancel your plans if you got them this weekend. Hit the road and get out to any one of these three incredible events.