With the help of pleasant weather, the 36th annual George Portz Traditional Music Festival on Sept. 26 packed great crowds into Larry G. Crites Memorial Park in Festus, reported an event organizer.
This year’s slate of performers focused on bluegrass, said Jason Portz, who along with Deanna Hardgrave, put on the show.
“The day was absolutely fantastic,” Portz said. “We had great, dry weather. That’s the deciding factor in how these go, if we can avoid rain. The crowds were terrific. It was as good of a crowd as we’ve had, in the thousands.”
The festival presented 10 bands at Mayor Mike’s Stage in the park. Performers included All American Bluegrass Drive, The Friends of Bluegrass, Big River Trio, Grass Roots, The Gasconade River Band, Pin N Buds, Coal Creek Station, The Howlin’ Brothers, Hillary Fitz and Po’ Ramblin’ Boys.
All played for about an hour except the headliners, the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, who closed out the show with a two-hour set.
“The bands were outstanding,” said Portz, who served as the event’s emcee. “The headliners, the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, were terrific.”
In addition to listening to the music, attendees had the opportunity to visit dozens of craft booths and food trucks. The city of Festus allowed primitive camping.
Prior years of the festival offered a variety of traditional music styles, but organizers decided to go with strictly bluegrass this year, he said.
George Portz, Jason’s father, 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, when it was canceled due to severe weather concerns.
George Portz, a national champion fiddle player, died in 2023 and his son has kept the festival going.
Jason Portz reorganized what had for many years been a two-day into a one-day event and plans to keep the one-day schedule, he said.
“We are going to stick with the one-day format,” he said. “It was outstanding. In the past, the second day was kind of an ‘industry day’ where my dad would play with different performers.”
He said he intends for the George Portz Traditional Music Festival to return to Crites Park next September.
“For sure, we’ll come back here next year,” he said.
The Festus Tourism Commission, which awarded a $25,000 grant to Portz to use for the event, sponsors the festival.
“We’re grateful to the Festus Tourism Commission and to Don Bollinger (owner of the Festus Pasta House) for providing the food for our hospitality tent for the performers and the workers,” he said.
For information on his future festivals, Portz said, visit georgeportztmf.com or the George Portz Traditional Music Festival page on Facebook.
