Review: All the Sights and Sounds of the 2025 Telluride Bluegrass Festival

A midnight motorcade’s fading taillights along Main Street silently marked the official end to the 52^nd edition of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. 
The four-day summer solstice celebration began on Thursday, June 19, and came to an end on Sunday, June 22. The other headliners — aka the acts that could afford to travel in such comfort — this year included Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Greensky Bluegrass and Toy Factory Project. But when it comes down to it, it's the openers and Elks Park players — the lesser-known road warriors hungry to leave their mark — who embody what Bluegrass was built on over all these years. The four members of Mountain Grass Unit rolled into town crammed into a white van, and it’s not going to get cozier anytime soon. The acoustic quartet from Birmingham, Alabama, kicked off a robust summer tour in mid-May that runs through September. Guitarist Luke Black compared the rigors of the road to the camping he and mandolinist-vocalist Drury Anderson used to undertake as Boy Scouts. But it was the group’s first-ever appearance in Telluride, so there weren't any complaints.

“Stepping out on that stage was unreal, and playing to those mountains and the massive crowd was insane,” Black said of taking the Fred Shellman Memorial Stage on Thursday afternoon and looking into the surrounding San Juan Mountains. “You can come up with different stuff out there by just looking at the scenery and feeling that energy from the crowd.”

“Anytime I got scared because the crowd was so big, I would just look up and see the mountains are just so much bigger, and bigger than the festival,” adds fiddler Josiah Nelson, who is originally from Fort Collins.

I was catching up with Mountain Grass Unit backstage, where Sam Bush could be caught chumming it up about baseball throughout the weekend, as Dan Tyminski got the crowd going with his award-winning O Brother, Where Art Thou? rendition of “Man of Constant Sorrow.”
Talking to KOTO Radio, the longtime local community station that broadcasts from the park all weekend, Black, Anderson, Nelson and bassist Sam Wilson — all dressed in tie-die T-shirts — were in awe, gushing about how honored they were to be part of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. But as legendary local DJ Suzanne Cheavens put it, this is just the first of what will likely be many appearances for the young pickers, especially after they tore up Elks Park, the more intimate open-air venue in town that hosts free shows, on Friday, June 20.

“I have never seen Elks Park that packed,” she said over the airwaves. “The Telluride audience is known for intently listening. They’re really serious about their music. … You’re going to be headliners before we know it.”

The four friends couldn't help but blush at the compliment, but it’s clear the sky’s the limit for Mountain Grass Unit since it released its debut EP, Runnin’ From Trouble, last year. And being able to rub elbows with such stalwarts as Béla Fleck, Tim O’Brien and Chris Thile wasn't taken for granted.
“We’ve always been the younger guys. We just got out of school, and we’ve always been opening for other bands. Luckily enough, we get to be around these bigger bands,” Wilson told me.

“They always say this sort of time we’re in right now is the most fun because you’re going to do these firsts. For example, Telluride this weekend. It’s the first time we’re here,” he continued. “They told me, looking back, you should appreciate your firsts every time doing something, because you only get a first one time. This is the fun part because everything’s new and exciting.”

The bandmates are looking forward to coming back as soon as they can, but are quick to skip town in order to make the next show in Nashville. “As long as we see people being passionate about our music and we feel the same, we’ll continue as long as we can,” Anderson said before taking off.
Aside from Mountain Grass Unit, other burgeoning acts that left a positive impression on revelers were DUG, Rainbow Girls, Thee Sacred Souls and Olive Klug. The Troubadour Contest also uncovered winner Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light, which officially makes the Boston-based string band the first act booked for 2026.

But for runner-up Big Love Car Wash, particularly vocalist-mandolinist Sol Chase, the opportunity to play the festival he literally grew up at couldn’t have meant more. “It’s been a dream of mine. I first came when I was six years old, and I remember watching people up there just saying, ‘One day I’d love to get to share a song on that stage,’” he said. “Just even to have a band that feels ready and excited to do a band competition is a huge step.”

Like Mountain Grass Unit, Big Love Car Wash — the name references a quote by late Yonder Mountain String Band co-founder Jeff Austin, who referred to the concert experience as “a big love car wash” — is just getting started, dropping its first-ever LP, Daydream, earlier this month. So expect to see the four-piece from Austin back in the box canyon soon.

In hitting some of the other highlights from the weekend, the fest opened with what’s become Chris Thile’s annual Thursday set, during which he welcomes festivarians to another year of Bluegrass glory. “I cherish our friendship y’all. I cherish coming here,” he told the crowd. “I love y’all.”
Another uniquely Telluride tradition is the shower of marshmallows that rains down on Yonder Mountain String Band when the Nederland five-piece plays. No one really knows when it started or why, but it’s become a custom, and Saturday was no different.

Sets throughout the weekend had people talking all around town. Gleaned from the rumblings and excitement overheard in the barrooms each evening, current country star Zach Top delivered the honky-tonk on Sunday, while Greensky whipped up a breakneck bluegrass version of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” on Friday night.

On Saturday, Toy Factory Project celebrated Toy Caldwell and his songs, including “Can’t You See,” “Heard It In a Love Song,” “Searching for a Rainbow” and “This Old Cowboy.” The all-star lineup featured Grammy-nominated vocalist-guitarist Marcus King, Grammy-winning bassist Oteil Burbridge (Dead & Company, Allman Brothers), guitarist Charlie Starr (Blackberry Smoke), keys player Josh Shilling (Mountain Heart, Wynonna Judd), and fiddler Billy Contreras (George Jones, Zach Bryan).

Folks also gushed over Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings teaming up on Thursday, as well as Lake Street Drive’s soulful sermon on Friday.
While the bill is the bedrock of Bluegrass, it’s the devotees, the festivarians, that make it truly special. This year, Oprah, an occasional Mountain Village resident, and championship-winning former Nuggets coach Michael Malone were spotted amongst the masses. From the tarp runs to the “free hugs” flags, it’s all too common to catch a face full of Colorado perfume when walking through the crowd. Attendees bathe and cool off in the crisp San Miguel River in some type of a Bluegrass baptism.

If you’re keen to it, the festivities truly begin a week before any music graces the main stage, when the most dedicated fans set up temporary encampments in the woods abutting the festival fairgrounds. At the edge of the wild, dotting the river mouth of Bear Creek Preserve, tie-dye tents and colorful campers make up a unique community within a community comprised of long-held sites that are dutifully erected year after year. At one such locale, playfully christened Camp Run-A-Muck, a somber ceremony in remembrance of fallen hippie royalty took place on Tuesday, June 17.

Tom Heidger passed away early this year after a valiant battle with cancer. A large crowd of his festivarian family filled the spacious Run-A-Muck area to pay their respects to the man known as “Telluride Tom,” who proudly wore his Mayor of Town Park title for many moons.

The celebration of life potluck included a sing-along and stories about Heidger’s affinity for cold beer, good times and Emmylou Harris. “He was madly in love with Emmylou Harris,” his daughter, Joelle, shared to a round of laughs.

A former Navyman and Vietnam veteran, Telluride Tom often sported a top hat and cane, and preferred to greet everyone with a simple heartfelt salute: “Welcome home.”

“Time goes by way too quickly,” said Carolyn Greene, another longtime Bluegrass lover. “Tell everyone you know you love them.”

Raising a final toast while soundcheck began in the background, the only thing left to do was honor his final wishes — to have his ashes spread on the Bluegrass fields.

Deeper into the bohemian grove, a woman in a black sun hat carried a curious tabby cat out of an area known as Kitten Hollow, where all the camps are feline-focused. The fur baby spotted a robin resting on a nearby rock and wants to introduce itself, but ultimately chose peace.

A man on a unicycle stopped by the campground beer exchange. His mead-based homebrew picked up a few awards this year, but Timmy, or Uncle T as he’s called (proper names aren’t much of a formality in the woods), isn’t one to gloat about accolades, whether that’s his trio of new beer ribbons or how many years he’s been coming to Bluegrass.

When asked what he most looked forward to, he answered without hesitation: “Each other.”