What the Walnut Valley Festival brings to town each September
Between 11,000 and 15,000 people come to the fairgrounds for the festival, many of them camping all week.
By Wade Ellison
Every September, Winfield’s population goes up for a week.
The Walnut Valley Festival runs Wednesday through Sunday over the weekend that includes the third Saturday of the month. Attendance usually runs 11,000 to 15,000, and many of those people camp on the grounds, coming from across the country and from other countries.
In its 50th year, 2022, the festival put on about 200 hours of music across four stages. The headliners are national and international acts, but the contests may matter more to the people who come. The National Flat-pick Guitar Championship is the main event, along with national championships for mandolin, bluegrass banjo, hammered dulcimer and mountain dulcimer, international autoharp and fingerstyle guitar contests, and an old-time fiddle contest.
All of those visitors buy gas, groceries, meals and motel rooms. For a lot of local businesses, it makes for a busy week.