Bill Monroe Memorial Bluegrass Festival – Bill Monore – “father of bluegrass music” – hosted his first multi-day bluegrass festival in Bean Blossom in 1967. While the first event took place in the Brown County Jamboree Barn, the festival of 1968 made use of a newly built stage, where the top bluegrass musicians in the country would play for fans some of whom also came from long distances. Listening to the legends perform, fraternizing with musicians (famous and local), jamming with friends and new acquaintances, camping, and enjoying the surroundings immediately became part of the bluegrass festival tradition at Bean Blossom. Many top draw bluegrass artists – including Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys – have played at the event. Other acts include Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys, David Frizzell, Marty Stuart, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, the Dillards, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the Del McCoury Band, Patty Loveless, Tracy Lawrence, the Osborne Brothers, Micael Cleveland & Flamemaker, the John Cowan Band, the Grascals, and John Hartford. Currently, two multi-day bluegrass festivals take place each year, with one in June (3 days) and the other in September (4 days). In 2000, the International Bluegrass Music Association picked the festival in bluegrass in Bean Blossom as the Event of the Year. Lastly, the Bill Monroe Memorial Bluegrass Festival is the longest-running bluegrass festival in the world.