Red, White and Bluegrass Festival
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Catawba Meadows Park 701 Sanford Dr, Morganton, North Carolina 28655
Back in the early 1980's, the City of Morganton Recreation Department decided to have a fireworks display on the Independence Day. The department set aside a small amount of money and obtained a few fireworks South Carolina. That evening, about dark, there was about 10-15 minutes of fireworks on the campus of Western Piedmont Community College. Such was the beginning...
Within a few years, the City's July 4ht fireworks show (with professional fireworks) began drawing crowds that eventually outgrew the campus of WPCC. Traffic problems which sprang from the site being located very close to Interstate 40, forced the fireworks to move to the Burke County Fairgrounds.
In 2004, the annual 4th of July celebration became the first annual Red White and Bluegrass Festival. That first year was a two-day event. Eventually, the festival grew to three days, and to a four-day event in 2006. Now, more than 30 years later, the Red, White and Bluegrass Festival is held at Catawba Meadows Park and has become one of the premier bluegrass festivals in the southeastern United States!
So far, we've had visitors from all states in the continental United States and many foreign countries as well. Visitors from Canada, England, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, France, Australia, and Japan have all come to enjoy bluegrass in our North Carolina town.