Jul. 4—NESCOPECK — Briggs Farm Blues Festival welcomes thousands to their family farm each year to bond over the blues. Briggs Farm expects another great turnout when the three-day festival starts Thursday, July 6, and runs through Saturday, July 8.
Briggs Farm Blues Festival was started by Richard and Alison Briggs and the Briggs family in 1998 and their 25th year of bringing the blues to their family farm is already gearing up to be another memorable one.
"Well, my father-in-law wanted to go to Woodstock, but he had to pick tomatoes — so, he made his own. He brought the Woodstock to him," said Dena Briggs.
Just a small team puts together this massive annual American blues music festival, most of whom are family and friends. Everyone pitches in to make it happen. Dena Briggs has been working to organize the event for about ten years, along with her husband, Dylan Briggs, and now their sons are helping out too.
Although it's a family affair, Briggs Farm Blues Festival has become not only a tradition for the Briggs family but also a tradition for their attendees. Music-lovers come from all over to gather with like-minded individuals for a weekend blues escape. Some come down from the South, some come up from the North, and they all meet here on their beautiful Nescopeck farm.
For many, this weekend is a big family reunion. For that very reason, it's important for Briggs to host an all-ages festival, open to everybody. There visitors already on their third generation of coming to this picturesque farm. "We have people coming now whose parents brought them as kids. I have a woman in the reserve section who said she brought her kids and now, she's bringing her grandkids."
These are the stories that make it all worth it for the Briggs family, who organizes this entire yearly event on their own family farm. The venue is huge, yet still somehow cozy. The expansive property is scenic, with wide-open views and plenty of room to camp, listen, dance, and just hang-out carefree.
"If you can dream it, you can do it. Go for it," said Dena Briggs. "Most people are comfortable just to settle in and not move. That's the idea. They come to get away for a little bit, reconnect with the music, and have fun."
Briggs Farm Blues Festival has two stages full of music from across the genre; the Back Porch Stage and the Main Stage. There will be music on both throughout the weekend.
The Back Porch Stage is the smaller of the two. It's scenic and adorable. This stage gets a tent and chairs, so if you need to sit, get some shade, or just take a minute — this is the spot to come unwind. It's also one of the hottest photo-op spots and the place where the festivities begin Thursday.
"Some people never come to the main stage. We know everybody's different," said Dena Briggs. "They can sit here, and really get close to the artist. It's very intimate. Kids love this stage because they're not getting that blast of reverb. It's a little more relaxing and they can come in close. The performers on this stage are just very open."
When the headliner goes on stage to close out the day on Friday and Saturday, The Back Porch Stage closes so everyone can watch the main attraction on the Main Stage. Music goes until about midnight each night.
The lineup this year is impressive. Saturday's headliner on the Main Stage is the tantalizing Robert Randolph Band. Although many blues artist often fly under the radar, the song "Ain't Nothing Wrong With That" by Robert Randolph and the Family Band hit radios and film and made its way into modern pop culture. Now on July 8, this rockstar hits Briggsville.
Dena Briggs said there's also a lot to get excited about from Friday headliner, Victor Wainwright & The Train. "Victor Wainwright, he's up for an award with the International Blues Music Awards, the IBCs. He's just a feast for the eyes! He has a keyboard that spins, he's animated, he's such a vocalist. It's just so much fun to watch."
One of the artists Dena Briggs herself is most looking forward to seeing is Joanna Connor, who plays on the Main Stage Friday, July 7. "She's out of control, but in control. She's wild and you wouldn't expect it. You'd expect her to be kind of tucked in a little bit, following the rules. You must see her to believe her."
She's also pumped to see Jackie Venson for the first time, who will open the Main Stage on Saturday, July 8. "She was just on the Country Music awards. She's super young and she's ethereal. — She is one of the next incarnations of the blues. She's completely different than anything we've ever had."
Obviously the whole festival is all about the blues, but Dena Briggs said they try to mix it up with artists from across the category, especially on the first day of the festival on the Back Porch Stage. On July 6's Pre-Party, all music takes place on the small stage for a more personal way to start off the weekend.
"Thursday is completely off the rails. It can be anything. Everybody gets to be over there together listening to some different artists that probably not everybody knows."
Dynamic artist Scott Pemberton, who's played their Main Stage before, will headline the Back Porch Stage to set the tone for the festival. "You know Animal from the Muppets, well that's the kind of energy he's got! "said Dena Briggs. "He fit in great on Thursday because he is not really like the others. But, blues has a lot of different faces and it changes. The blues borders on so many different genres."
Friday's lineup features a lot of traditional Mississippi Delta blues, and then Saturday's line-up goes a little more experimental. Briggs Farm Blues Festival always features the best of the blues veterans, but also incorporates up-and-coming artists from throughout the prolific genre.
"Who would've thought we'd still have more new blues artists coming out?" said Dena Briggs. "I'm into the blues now, but I was not as a child. I listened to 90s and 80s Top 40, which you can make arguments that those came from the blues. My father-in-law likes to like say — and he's right about this — that all of our music comes from the blues. He was a teenager in the sixties and what was the Rolling Stones if not the blues?"
Everything just seems to flow and they've thought of everything. But above all, The Briggs Family keeps this massive blues festival peaceful and relaxing.
Unlike most festivals, Briggs Farm allows you to bring in coolers, whatever you need to kick back and enjoy your time there. However, there will also be over 50 unique vendors with food, drinks, clothes, jewelry, and more including Berwick Brewing who is a sponsor of the event.
"Lots of people, they roll in here like it is vacation. And it is a vacation," said Dena Briggs. "They're not going down to The Bahamas, they're not flying out to god knows where, they make this their vacation. Camping and music is the best vacation for some."
This is a big event for this side of the country and festivals like theirs are keeping the blues going strong into the 2020s. There aren't a ton of big blues festivals left in the United States, but Briggs Farm has been going since 1998 and they intend to keep putting on the show.
Briggs Farm Blues Festival won the Keeping the Blues Alive Award in 2017. It may seem like just one festival a year, but this powerful event gives everybody the chance to celebrate the blues and see for themselves the wonderful things that artists are still doing in the genre. These are performance you won't be able to recreate anywhere else.
"This is far more inviting than going to a big city to see the blues. This is how you should experience the blues," said Dena Briggs.
The Briggs Family is very much like their festival — as free as can be. They invite everyone, from teenagers to grandparents, to come see the blues their way! You might be surprised to find there's a blues fan in all of us.
Briggs Farm Blues Festival takes place on this stunning open farm in Nescopeck on Thursday, July 6, through Saturday, July 8. Tickets, including camping bundles and single-day passes, can be purchased for Briggs Farm Blues Festival on their website.
