The Rhode Island Bluegrass Alliance’s scheduled one-day festival at Bally’s in Lincoln, RI on March 21 has been cancelled due to low ticket sales. But fortunately, the Twin Rivers casino and resort has agreed to host the Bluegrass Bash headliners, Blue Highway, that same day in a club on the property.
The Bluegrass Bash was to have included seven New England bluegrass acts in addition to Blue Highway, and would have provided an excellent showcase of regional talent in a central location. But early support wasn’t there to support the commitment of the facilities.
Diane Petit, Secretary of the Rhode Island Bluegrass Alliance, explains…
“Yes, we’re disappointed about the cancellation of the Bluegrass Bash at Bally’s, but we have some exciting news to share. Headliner Blue Highway will still perform the evening of March 21st at Bally’s Twin River. The show will be held in The Lighthouse bar and will begin at 9:00 pm. Blue Highway will be followed by two other bands from the Bluegrass Bash lineup: Rock Hearts and Four Bridges. There will be no cover charge or ticket required.
We thank Bally’s for their partnership in planning the Bluegrass Bash and willingness to host the event at minimal cost to RIBA. Unfortunately, Bally’s management had to make the difficult decision to cancel the event because ticket sales were not on pace to support the significant cost of holding a day-long festival in their event center.
We hope southern New England bluegrass fans will come out to Bally’s on the evening of March 21st to see these three great bands.
And we’ll look forward to seeing folks at our other upcoming events including the RIBA Hall of Fame on April 12 and the Ocean State Bluegrass Festival, August 14-16. Details coming soon!”
Hopefully the attendance at this scaled-back event will impress Bally’s and a larger festival might be rescheduled in the future.
