Black Mountain Music Festival

01/08/2025

Hi everyone! So...guess who's having a festival at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly OCTOBER 11-16???? WE ARE!!! I cannot tell you how excited I am to be able to make this announcement! So, here's how it will work. Even though a few of last year's staff (understandably) made alternate plans because of the uncertainty of the possibilities for this year, most of last year's staff are still available for this year's festival. So, we'll be announcing the roster and classes in the not to distant future. Many of the classes will be the same as last year. But there will be some new offerings. The Blue Ridge Assembly has been VERY busy rebuilding some of the damaged buildings on campus. For those returning to BMMF there will definitely be some changes at the Assembly as far as asthetics. They're in a process that will most likely take years to complete. But the beauty and professionalism we've come to know and love about the Assembly will be unchanged. We're working to have everything up and running for registration by the second week in April. We'll certainly have class descriptions out for preview prior to the registration. So, stay tuned and GET EXCITED!! 😎❤️

11/27/2024

Hi Everyone! Something I've been watching online for some years now is the Christmas show from our very own Rick Thum! If you're looking for something entertaining to watch that gets you in the holiday spirit this is definitely the ticket!

10/18/2024

The video from Tuesday night's benefit concert for Western North Carolina is now up on Youtube so you can share it with your non-Facebook friends!

Here's the link:

The 2024 Black Mountain Music Festival (BMMF) was cancelled in the wake of destruction after Hurricane Helene. Many of the Instructors came together to perfo...

10/15/2024

Many of the 2024 Black Mountain Music Festival Instructors are coming together to perform an ONLINE benefit concert for the folks of Black Mountain, NC and the surrounding area. We all know by now how devastated they were in the wake of Hurricane Helene and the terrible flooding it brought. This is a small way for our community to come together, enjoy the music we are missing since BMMF was cancelled, and support the affected area.

10/15/2024

Hi Everyone. I wanted to pass along a message from YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly.

"YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly is beginning to handle registration cancellations resulting from Hurricane Helene. While they still don’t have power and are working remotely, they ask that participants send an email (no calls) to [email protected] with your deposit request. You may consider converting your deposit to a donation for the storm relief efforts, or a portion of your deposit can be donated. If you would like a refund please note if you paid by check, credit card or PayPal. Refunds will be handled as soon as possible – hopefully in the next couple of weeks."

10/05/2024

10/05/2024

Hi everyone. Just touching base for a quick update. The larger portion of folks who were registered for classes have been responding by email - Thank You. If you have requested a class registration fee refund as of today (SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5 @ 8:30am EST) it has been sent to you. But I want to reemphasize something for you. As we stated in our last email communication, any money owed to you by the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly for room/board WILL be refunded. BUT at this time they are still VERY heavily involved in damage assessment and recovery modes. They'll be in contact when THEY are able. So, any emails, calls, etc. requesting refunds may not happen for some time. Contacting them will not speed up the process. So, your patience is greatly appreciated. Also, a special THANK YOU for all who have been paying that registration fee forward. We have our "A Team" working on an online benefit concert that will take place sometime soon for others who would like to participate in donating. I know that many (possibly most) of you have been offering help in some way through your churches and other local response groups. So thank YOU as well! We'll be in touch soon with information about the concert. I'm happy to respond to any questions you may have so don't hesitate to let me know @ [email protected] Please "follow" the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly page for updates on their progress and, again, thank you ALL for your patience and support through this horrible tragedy. ❤️

09/28/2024

Blue Ridge Assembly information...

09/28/2024

Hi All

After about 6 hours of reading the news and seeing the reports online, it’s painfully obvious that Black Mountain is a disaster area right now. I’ve been seeing the posts sent in by some of you and doing searches online for “Black Mountain NC” on Facebook and other sources showing the horror that so many people are experiencing right now. And I can’t see that changing in the 2 weeks we have remaining until the festival. One of the reports that has come out of that area says that Asheville is “cut off from the world”. There have been rock and mud slides blocking interstates making access impossible. News sources are saying that the only other time this has happened was in 1791. One of my past experiences was 15 years serving on a disaster relief team. We would “stage” outside an area that was about to be hit by a hurricane and go in once the storm had passed. Currently, there are no avenues for relief to get into the affected areas. So, it could be weeks before power, etc. is back to any form of “normal”. So, before all else, our prayers go out to everyone affected by this disaster.

In light of these reports, it seems obvious that this year’s festival will have to be cancelled. I can’t tell you how difficult it is for me to have to admit that fact. The festival is one of the high points of my year and I know this is a real disappointment for all of us involved.

For those who have paid I will offer 2 options. You can apply your payment to next year’s festival and be prepaid or I can refund your money. Someone offered a third suggestion that some of you might want to “pay it forward” and have your registration given to relief work in the area. That’s something that will be ongoing for a while. If you would like to do that we’ll be more than happy to pass that donation along for you. Any of those options will be fine. And because I expect a number of folks will want refunds, I would ask for your patience as I work through that process. Because our mass emails go out from that area it could be some time before we get this message out in email form. So, any help you can give to help us pass this along would be appreciated.

Again, I appreciate any input that you’ve given to help me make this decision. Please know that I am in complete disbelief and heartbroken over this decision. But it is the only wise and logical choice given the circumstances. If you have any questions at all don’t hesitate to let me know. I’ll look forward to seeing many of you in the coming year at other venues and NEXT fall in Black Mountain.

Much love to you all

Chuck
email - [email protected]

09/10/2024

Hi All! WE'RE JUST FOUR WEEKS AWAY!! Looking forward to seeing you all. Here's an opportunity for those who have music you'd like to have recorded. Brian Bohlman is offering recording time for anyone wanting to get their music on MP3! Check this out!

During the October 12-17, 2024 Black Mountain Music Festival, Brian Bohlman will be offering private digital recording sessions (Sunday-Wednesday) for anyone...

09/03/2024

Hi Everyone! Just popping in for a moment to make sure everyone is aware of an instructor change. Sadly, Jeff Furman won't be able to make it to the festival this year due to a medical emergency in his family. We made that news available to our email list. But, I've learned that not everyone is on our email list. So, if you have one of Jeff's classes and you haven't already made us aware of your alternate class choice, you may select ANY class offered during that session to replace Jeff's class. Even if it says "FULL" you can select that class. Then, send your selection to us at [email protected] - AND tell us to make sure you're on our email list! Thank you so much for your patience. Looking forward to seeing you all in person. Please don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions at all. :)

05/22/2024

In just a few weeks I'll be going to what I believe is one of the premier dulcimer festivals - Kentucky Music Week. For over 20 years Nancy Johnson Barker has done an AMAZING job as an organizer. I've looked to her over the years as a mentor and friend. The line-up is stellar and in the 12 years I've been attending, I've never been disappointed. It's my summer addiction! Of course, BMMF has the fall covered...(clears throat humbly for effect)...but the summers belong to KMW. There's still time to register. Go to www.kentuckymusicweek.com I'll look forward to seeing you all there! 🤟😎

05/11/2024

So, let me start by saying…W-O-W!!!!! Best first day of class registration in the festival’s history! By my count there were 140 folks who sent in registration for classes…IN ONE DAY!!! That’s crazy! And the punchline is – there are still 5 more months for folks to register! So, thank you to everyone who registered yesterday. It was extremely hectic but very exciting. Now, we start the process of responding to and confirming all of those registrations. This will take about 4-5 days so if you haven’t heard from me in a week definitely let me know.

A word on the housing. Obviously, the Blue Ridge Assembly was swamped with our registrations as well. Here is a clip from a response I received from the housing director…

“I sent a brief email out to anyone who registered before about 2pm today to let them know we received their information, and plan to follow up with registrants within the next month or so to share out building assignments and other general confirmation details. Just based on the nature of our system (it unfortunately allows for overbooking), we'll certainly have a few folks who were hoping for Blue Ridge Center who will get bumped to another building. But getting information about what building they're assigned to by sometime in early June should allow folks to make other arrangements if they're unhappy with their placement.”

So, if you registered for room/board with the Assembly yesterday, you should be hearing from them sometime in the next 2-3 weeks. Bear in mind, the Assembly hosts groups all year and are currently beginning one of their busiest seasons. So, please have some patience with them. We have been blessed with the quality of the Blue Ridge Assembly over the years and have only seen a growth in that quality from year to year. They are amazing folks and we’ve built a strong and caring working relationship with them over the years. So, please be patient.

Bottom line, we’re off! And in an exciting way! We have five months to work on tweaking the events of yesterday and we are going to do everything we can to make sure this year is one of the best festivals ever. So, thank you again for your patience and support. It seriously means the world to me. Bless you all! 🤟♥️

05/06/2024

REGISTRATION INFORMATION!!!...Registration will start officially THIS FRIDAY - MAY 10 @ EXACTLY 9am!!

You can see the room/board info here - https://blueridgeassembly.org/etn/black-mountain-music-festival-2024
*This link will not be "live" for registration until 9am Friday. *

For those who are new and as a reminder to our returning folks - There are TWO registrations. The one served by the link above is for folks wanting to stay on site at the festival. You will register for room/board at the Blue Ridge Assembly ONLINE ONLY. There will be NO PHONE RESERVATIONS made!

There are plenty of hotel, campground, and Air BnB accomodations locally which are very close to the venue if you'd like to look in that direction.

The other registration is for classes and that can be done by going to www.blackmountainmusicfest.com That will also be available on May 10.

We'll have the above link on our website to take you to the registration mentioned above for room/board at the Assembly.

If you want to stay at the Assembly be aware that this year we have three buildings (Blue Ridge Center, Weatherford & Ashevlle) reserved and two lodges (Breazeale Family & Lotz)! Lotz is so new it hasn't even officially opened yet. But we will get it! If you are inclined to cook your own meals, the lodges are for you. This year we'll also be able to use the lodges with the meal plan! And just FYI, the lodges are AWESOME!

I'm happy to field any questions you might have. So, don't hesitate to let me know if you need some assistance. Our email is... [email protected]

HOPE TO SEE YOU IN THE FALL!! 😎

Oct. 12-17, 2019. Courses, jamming, & concerts, for mountain dulcimer, hammered dulcimer, ukulele, banjo, guitar, and Native American flute. Join us at the Black Mountain Music Festival!

05/02/2024

Sooooo....the question on EVERYONE'S mind is - "When will registration begin?" We're working to make it happen in THE NEXT 7 DAYS! I cannot wait!!!! 😎