The 36th annual George Portz Traditional Music Festival will be one day instead of two, but that single day will offer 10 separate acts.
Festival performances kick off at 10 a.m., and the music will keep flowing through 9 p.m. Saturday at Larry G. Crites Memorial Park, along Old Hwy. A in Festus. Tickets cost $15 in advance or $20 at the gate. Advance tickets may be purchased at georgeportztmf.com.
George Portz, a national champion fiddle player and the man who ran the festival for years, died in 2023. His son, Jason Portz, has carried on the event along with fellow organizer Deanna Hardgrave.
“We moved everything to Saturday,” Portz said. “We just feel our crowds are better on Saturday and instead of spacing out our crowd over two days, we feel we could just make it a one-day event and get everybody at one location at one time and just make it a little bit easier for people who are traveling.”
He said this year’s festival focuses on bluegrass music. Prior versions of the event had a variety of music styles.
“We really went back to our traditional bluegrass roots,” he said. “That’s something that Dad emphasized for a lot of years, and we tried to get back to bluegrass. Bluegrass is hot and heavy in the region with young people. People want to hear more bluegrass than anything else right now.”
The schedule of performers is: 10 a.m., All American Bluegrass Drive; 11 a.m., The Friends of Bluegrass; noon, Big River Trio; 1 p.m., Grass Roots; 2 p.m., The Gasconade River Band; 3 p.m., Pic N Buds; 4 p.m., Coal Creek Station; 5 p.m., The Howlin’ Brothers; 6 p.m., Hillary Fitz; and 7 p.m., Po’ Ramblin’ Boys.
Portz said the festival will offer a variety of other features in addition to the music.
“There’s craft booths, food trucks and people can camp overnight,” he said. “What they call it, primitive camping. So, all the things that we’ve talked about before, it’s going to be available. We’ve got already over 30 different crafters and vendors registered, so we’re going to have a good turnout, and we’re really excited about that.”
George Portz held the festival for 23 years at Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Site in Ellis Grove, Ill., and then in 2013, he moved it to Festus where it has been held each year other than during the COVID-19 pandemic and in 2024.
Barb Lowry, the Festus recreation and tourism director, said local officials appreciate having the festival in town.
“It’s a fantastic event that we are happy and proud to have in the city of Festus,” she said. “We had a great partnership with George and that continues with his son, Jason. We are looking forward to many years of this event.”
The city of Festus allows primitive camping and RVs at the park during the festival. No hook-ups are available. Festus Parks and Recreation and the Festus Tourism Commission, which awarded a $25,000 grant to Jason Portz to use for the event, sponsors the festival.
For more information, visit georgeportztmf.com or the George Portz Traditional Music Festival page on Facebook.