MARYSVILLE – The 8th annual Covered Bridge & Bluegrass Festival is set for Sept. 18-20. The event officially kicks off on Friday with a Sunset Dinner on the Pottersburg Bridge. Guests will dine on a five-course meal. Seats are limited and reservations are required for this unique dining experience.
Seven Ohio-based bluegrass and folk bands will perform throughout the festival. Other activities include an ice cream social on the bridge, a church service, arts, crafts, shopping, antiques and wagon rides.
Admission to the festival for the entire weekend is $5. Children 12 years old and younger will be admitted for free.
The festival is held on the beautiful Pottersburg Covered Bridge, a historic bridge built in 1868. It is also known as the pedestrian bridge, which sits at the end of North Lewisburg’s two-mile multi-purpose trail.
Chamber and Tourism Director Tina Knotts said it takes a full day to see and do everything at the family-friendly festival. “From breakfast on the bridge Saturday to tours of bridges in the country, to the marketplace with crafts and antiques, plus seven bluegrass and folk bands playing throughout the festival, most families will make a day of it at the event.” While adults enjoy the music and history, children’s activities will include a kids’ zone, storytelling, horse-drawn wagon rides and more.
Festival chairman Mardy Hanlon-Stolte invites families to start their day on Saturday with a pancake breakfast on the bridge. Also offered is a coffee and canvas class taught by a member of the Marysville Art League. In light of the festival’s theme, participants in the class will learn step by step how to paint a covered bridge. Reservations and a fee apply to this class. Visitors can then shop in the merchant area, watch demonstrations in the demo tent, listen to storytelling, or take a covered bridge and scenic byway tour. The guided tours are an excellent way to take in the sights of Union County while celebrating its rich agricultural history.
Saturday’s music lineup is as follows: One More Time String Band, Daniel Dye and the Miller Road Band, and Black Diamond. Be sure to stay for the Saturday night Concert on the Bridge performed by Sugar Creek Bluegrass with Bill Purk. Sugar Creek Bluegrass is an energetic young group of siblings who have been performing together since 2012. Concert tickets are $15 at the bridge or $12 presale, children 12 and under free.
The festivities continue on Sunday with coffee and a church service on the bridge, an ice cream social, more music by bluegrass artists, and a repeat of Saturday’s activities, shopping and vendors.
New this year, the Ohio Village Muffins Vintage Baseball team will be playing both at the festival and in North Lewisburg at the ball diamond.
The complete festival schedule can be found on the website www.coveredbridgefestival.com or by calling the Union County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau at 937-642-6279. The address of the Pottersburg Bridge is 17141 Inskeep-Cratty Road, North Lewisburg.
