Carter Caves State Park Ampitheater: Beautiful Setting!
Carter Caves State Resort Park will host the annual Fraley Mountain Music Gatherin’ for the 46th year from Sept. 9-12. Any reason to visit this beautiful park is a good one, but a music festival is pretty darn hard to beat.
The festival that began as a family reunion honors old-time music and eastern Kentucky traditions as well as the late master fiddler J.P. Fraley. Musicians will be jamming in parking lots and sharing music around the campfires of Carter Caves State Resort Park. Musical instruments such as dulcimer, fiddle and guitar are used to tell stories about life long ago in the eastern Kentucky foothills.
On Wednesday, Sept. 9, there will be a free “Jamming in the Round” get-together in the campground starting at 8 p.m. On Thursday, Sept. 10, starting at 7 p.m., enjoy an open stage concert in the park’s amphitheater.
At 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11, the amphitheater will come to life with an open stage, a banjo gathering and a dulcimer gathering. Friday’s activities will be capped with a 7 p.m. concert in the amphitheater.
Starting Saturday morning, Sept. 12, there will be a kid’s jam session in front of the lodge. Late morning into the afternoon the amphitheater will resound with sessions devoted to ballads, storytelling, and Carter Family songs, and conclude with a fiddle gathering and guitar gathering. Saturday night’s concert in the amphitheater begins at 7 p.m.
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Carter Caves State Park Ampitheater
Paid admission is required for concerts and jam sessions Friday afternoon through Saturday night. Fees range from $4 to $10. A festival pass for all programs costs $25 per person. The Friends of Carter Caves will be providing refreshments during the event.
For more information, including a list of invited musicians, contact Coy Ainsley at 606-286-4411 x2543 or festival organizer Barb Kuhns at bkuhnsfiddle@yahoo.com. Visit the festival website at www.fraleyfestival.com.
Carter Caves State Resort Park features a lodge, vacation cottages, RV campsites and primitive campsites. The lodge restaurant offers a variety of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. There’s also hiking, golf, mini-golf, fishing, horseback riding and swimming. The park is located in northeastern Kentucky, 4 miles off Interstate 64 between Grayson and Olive Hill (exit 161).
See more pictures of Carter Caves State Resort Park on Genuine Kentucky.
