Maine Bluegrass Tradition
Blistered Fingers — Maine Bluegrass Festival
From a recent email blast:
Hello Dear Friends,
We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We look forward to making more wonderful memories with friends old and new. We are excited to announce the lineups for the 2026 Blistered Fingers Festivals featuring fan favorites along with a few new surprises. Please find our festival flyers below for your review. For the latest updates, please continue to check our website and our Facebook page.
Tickets are now available in advance on our website where you’ll find printable flyers and an order form if you’d like to mail in your ticket request. You can take advantage of our early advance ticket price for only $95 per person for each the June and August festivals until April 1st. The price will be $120 per person at the gate. Children 16 and under are FREE with a paying attendee, We hope this helps more families enjoy the Blistered Fingers Family Bluegrass Festivals. The weekend ticket includes four days of music and up to five free days of camping (Thursday through Sunday/Monday morning until 10:00 a.m.). Our weekend gate opens at 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning for Early Bird camping before each festival. Stage shows will be held Thursday through Saturday, with a Gospel Sing Along & Jam on Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m.
Ticket Options:
Online: You can now pre-buy your Early Bird weekend tickets online at www.blisteredfingers.com to save on your purchase. Please note that a small fee applies to credit card transactions.
Mail-In: You can mail a check with a self-addressed stamped envelope.
Purchase at the Gate: Weekend and day tickets will be available at the gate, payable with cash or check.
Additionally, we offer Sunday-Wednesday Early Bird camping at $10 per day per camper. Electrical hookups (first come, first served) are only $35 for the entire stay, not per day. If you park on an electrical site, please note that you’ll need to pay for power. Dogs, early bird camping, power, and day tickets are payable at the gate upon your arrival with cash or check. Please be advised that a $10 per person fee will be charged for visitors or those dropping items off from Sunday to Wednesday before the festival begins. Starting Thursday, the entry fee will be the cost of a full day ticket.
Kids’ Academy – FREE for children to attend. Every child will receive a FREE Blistered Fingers Kids Academy t-shirt to wear during the group stage performance on Saturday of the festival. If your child already has a shirt from previous years, please bring it with you. It’s so heartwarming to see so many children participate each year. We truly appreciate the hard work of the kids and their mentors. Thank you Mama Beth Revels and the other adult instructors for making this program possible and for being such wonderful mentors. Please share any photos you have taken at Blistered Fingers with us. We would love to see them!
We would like to extend a special thank you to everyone who has helped distribute flyers. If you are willing to help spread the word further, we would greatly appreciate the extra assistance. Increasing our attendance allows us to keep the festival affordable despite the rising costs of operation. This growth also helps us continue to expand our musical community. As we look forward to the upcoming festival season, we want to thank all the bands—past, present, and future—for being part of our festival family. We also extend our sincere gratitude to our attendees, sponsors, vendors, and our wonderful staff. We could not do what we love without your continued support and thoughtfulness.
“Don’t just hear about it, come experience it.”
Keep smiling and your toes tapping!
Love, Greg & Sandy
Please continue to check the website and Facebook for up to date information and ticket sales. https://blisteredfingers.com/index.php/ticket-information.
2024 was a celebration of all of you!
In 2024 we marked 45 years of bluegrass music
where the music meets the sea!
And we asked you to celebrate too!
Thank you for your support all these years!
We want to thank each and every one of you who were able to join us this year and all those that came before! Whether this was your very first festival or you have been here from the start, we were glad to have you celebrating with us.
While there is still uncertainty about the future, we can’t let another day go by without being grateful for all the wonderful memories that have been made through the years. We promise to keep you posted, but for now, it is important for us to thank everyone who made the 2024 festival possible.
Events like these don’t happen without a dedicated crew of staff, volunteers, and partners, and we have the VERY best of them all! There is always risk in saying thank you, because we are bound to leave someone out, but we are going to give it a try! First a huge shout out to our gate manager and super supporter Jenna Summers! Thanks to Lexzi, Jade, Kerry, Randy & Gail, Bonnie, Josh, and Piper who “Welcome You Home” and to Dave the “parker of all things”! Boundless gratitude to all of “the Lunns and Lemeiuxs,” now multi-generational in making the magic happen! Kyle & Andrew, your support and can do attitude means the world to us! How fun was it to have Spenser and Zach back chipping in everywhere this year?! A heartfelt thank you to Todd and his super team for keeping our bathrooms maintained all week long. We are grateful for our park grounds and maintenance team, led by the legendary and always faithful- Ray York. Appreciation to those who jump in and say “we will help with anything you need” Rich & Stef, Diane & Reuben, Clyde & Scott, Sandra, Maggie, Lynn, Josh, Ryan, Stephanie, Bruce & Judy, Peggy & Charles, the Valade Fam, Terry, Mason, Hodge, Rufus, and Sandy-the queen of the 50/50 with help from Piper M! And a big hurray out to the Rapoza and Elder clan for all their support through the years! Three cheers to Cindy, Lois, Richard, and Stef at the info booth and Brian L our Chauffer to the stars!
Bravo to our sound crew from Events United for the best professional sound anywhere and our excellent emcees- Cecil, Mama Beth, Alex, Kevin, and April! Here’s to our security team led by Dave & LeeAnn, and to Brian and Morrie for keeping the backstage secure. Hurray to Alli, Carter, Melissa, Alan, Shaun, and Ted who keep our littles and teens movin’ and groovin’! Thanks to all our workshop presenters and jam leaders. And kudos to our FABULOUS vendors and our SPECTACULAR sponsors, too! We can’t forget our ice cream scoopers and caboose crew, parkers, road crew, and shuttle drivers, photographers, raffle and merch volunteers, and so many more. To all our new volunteers and staff too, we were proud to welcome you to the team!
We especially want to thank all the musicians for lighting up the stage and all around the park with their talent! Wednesday night’s Open Mic (thanks Rick!), Thursday’s Showcase Competition, Morning Waltzes with Dale & Darcy, Caboose Jams, Late Night Tent sets, Sunday Gospel Sing with Mike & Mary, TPB Young Pickers and Singers, guest performers, Breakin’ Strings playing for an insanely early morning interview, campfire pickin’, the main stage from Headliners to tweeners and everything in between; EVERYONE brought their very best!
We still hear you pickin’ in the pines… precious memories, how they linger.
Mike Mulligan, Dr. Jen Wolfe, Jenna Summers, and Shari Elder
And finally, words can not even begin to express my boundless gratitude for the unwavering love and support of my wife, Jen, and the wisdom, guidance, and legendary tenacity of Shari. I couldn’t have done any of this without the three extraordinary women you see above.
Jenna, Jen, and Shari; I am forever indebted to all that you have done to help us continue a family legacy spanning 45 years. I will cherish the past 8 years we have spent working together until the end of days. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
As my mother, Pati Crooker, said in her 2008 welcome-
“Years ago when I held our 1st annual Bluegrass Festival, I knew it would be special. I wasn’t sure what this was all about, but I was sure it was what WE were all about. It takes the right combination to make a perfect partnership. It has to reflect the essence of the Park; not only what Thomas Point offers physically but, more importantly emotionally and spiritually or we don’t do it. The Bluegrass Festival is the perfect mix. Combining the passion of the music with the love of family and friendships along with the beauty and peace of the location can create a very meaningful long-term relationship.”
“What a wonderful time it has been.”
And we have been honored to carry on her legacy.
~ Mike, Jen, and Shari
Who’s Pickin’ Where
Calendar courtesy of the Maine Bluegrass Music Association