The 33rd annual Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival will kick off on Thursday, July 17, at the Trumansburg Fairgrounds.
The four-day celebration of music and togetherness will be hosted as usual by local band Donna the Buffalo and features over 80 different music groups with styles ranging from rock-and-roll to hip hop and everything in between.
“Humans are easily divided,” said Jeb Puryear, a local musician as part of the Donna the Buffalo group and one of the founders and organizers of the event since its start in 1990. “So I think [one of the goals] of GrassRoots is to have that vibe that bring[s] people together and so we have done the best we could to make GrassRoots a culturally neutral place for people to meet.”
In addition to Nelson, Malian singer and guitarist Vieux Farka Touré is expected to take the stage along with American four-piece indie pop band Lucius and two-time Grammy-nominated artist Sierra Hull.
One of the headliners of the festival is Lukas Nelson, a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter with over one million monthly listeners on Spotify. In addition to the music and dancing, the annual GrassRoots Happiness Parade will start at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Responding to persistent local rumors, Puryear chuckled and commented that there is "definitely a chance” that Willie Nelson, legendary American guitarist and activist as well as Lukas’ father, could appear alongside the younger Nelson at the festival.
The goal of the event in 1990, according to Puryear, was camaraderie and bringing awareness to the AIDS epidemic across the country. Now, the focus has shifted more towards togetherness and celebrating music thanks to medical advancements in the treatment of AIDS.
Puryear commented on how much influence the festival has had on Tompkins County, musicians and attendees each year stating that he could not “imagine it not existing” and that there has “never” been “a bad year at Grassroots.” He is also excited for all the attendees to enjoy the music, food and fun the event has to offer.
“Music’s a beautiful force and so the festival brings about a lot of beautiful things,” Puryear said. “Not saccharine, not unenergetic [but] very energetic, very lively, rocking force.”
Tickets are available for purchase on the festival’s website and range from single-day admission to access on all four days of the festival.
Zeinab Faraj is the assistant sports editor on the 143rd editorial board and a member of the class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. You can reach her at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.
