2018 – 41 YEARS OF BLUEGRASS HISTORY
submitted by Jim Brown

The history of the Coombs Bluegrass Festival actually started with the Coombs Community Organization reviving the Coombs Country Opera. This was an event where musicians could come to the Old Hall in Coombs and perform in front of an audience.  It became so popular that they out grew the Old Hall.

The Coombs Community Organization, led by Worris Key and some of the performers came up with the idea to have a “Bluegrass Festival”. This seemed to be a good way to raise some money with the hopes of building a new Hall. Since this had not been done in Western Canada before, it was a bit scary as no one had an idea of what we were in store for, but we did it.

The Coombs Bluegrass Festival came to be in 1978, thanks to some very dedicated people and a whole bunch of volunteers. To name just a few Worris Key and myself, Jim Brown, from the Coombs Community Organization and performers Riel Aubchion, Joe Bochek and Gerry Patch made it happen.

Our first festival was on a farm – The Arrowsmith #1 Farm,  August 18th – 20th, 1978. Headline performers were the Zig-Zag Mountain String from Quesnel, Cathy Fink and Duck Donald from Ontario, and Coombs locals, the Backroom Boys.

The second Festival was held at the Coombs Rodeo Grounds to better handle the crowds and they have been held at this venue ever since.  We have had performers from all across Canada and the United States over the last thirty years, some from as far away as Texas. The Coombs Bluegrass Festival has been a great outdoor show and has made a lot of people happy, becoming a premier summer Bluegrass Festival stop, held on the August long weekend annually.