Not every concert requires you to pack in your own lawn chairs and lodging. But if you're willing to cart the extra gear, you could set up camp at some of the richest musical experiences to be had in Middle America.
If you're a musician, you might want to bring extra strings.
Bluegrass music festivals have attracted weekend travelers and traditional music lovers for decades. Their popularity is evidenced by the success of large annual festivals, like the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado, a four-day event now in its 42nd year that draws 12,000 festival-goers daily, along with some of the biggest names in bluegrass.
But you don't have to navigate huge crowds or even leave the state to experience what a bluegrass festival has to offer - the Midwest is littered with them.
"I like the smaller settings. We put a blanket on the ground and let the kids play while we listen to music," said Belle resident Hollie Dean, 57, who travels with her husband, Dennis, family and friends to several bluegrass festivals every year.
Their most recent trip was to Silver Dollar City's Bluegrass & BBQ festival earlier this month in Branson.
"It was our first time doing that. It was set up very nice, with several bluegrass bands all through the park, and there was barbecue, corn on the cob and all that kind of stuff sitting around where you could go buy lunch and listen to the music," Dean said.
Many Midwest bluegrass festivals are as home-grown as the music they celebrate.
The Starvy Creek Summer Bluegrass Festival - another Dean plans to attend this year - will mark its 30th summer making music July 2-4 in Conway, Missouri. Its treasured festival status was an accident.
"I was just going to have a music party. I never really intended at that point for it to do what it's done," said Don Day, who hosts the annual, family-operated festival with his wife, Bobbie Sue. "We were going to do it here at my house, and then moved it down to where the park is now. Then it just mushroomed from there. We decided to have it the next year and there were more people there, and first thing we knew it was up and running."
The annual Starvy Creek festival draws about 2,500 people each day, including some who stay there all weekend in about 400 RVs and more who camp in 20-30 tents, Day said.
"There's a lot of people that love the older music," Day said. "It's hard to find that played on the radio this day and time - so they're out searching for that."
Six years after the first festival formed, the Day family added a fall Starvy Creek festival in mid-September. This summer's festival will feature well-known headliner Dailey & Vincent and 27-year Starvy Creek veteran Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, along with nine other bands over three days. Reigning "Queen of Bluegrass" Rhonda Vincent will headline the Starvy Creek Fall Bluegrass Festival Sept. 17-19, accompanied by the Bluegrass Martins of Versailles and 10 other bands.
In the 24 years Starvy Creek has hosted two annual festivals, the Days have maintained variety by never having the same band play both in one year. The music, after all, is the real reason people attend.
"It's all acoustic instruments - there's no electric. Their vocals are usually amazing," Dean said. She noted of all the bluegrass festivals she and her husband have attended, they have never camped at one. "It's on my bucket list," she added.
Bluegrass fans up for a slightly longer trip might consider the annual Bill Monroe Memorial Bean Blossom Bluegrass Music Festival in Bean Blossom, Indiana, which offers eight straight days of bluegrass from more than 80 bands. It's also the oldest continuously running bluegrass festival in the world, now in its 49th year.
The festival honors legendary musician Bill Monroe, who is credited with creating the bluegrass style. The 55-acre Bill Monroe Music Park & Campground, where the festival is held, hosts several musical events from May through October.
This year's Bean Blossom festival is scheduled for June 13-20 and features a three-day youth bluegrass camp as well as workshops for bluegrass instrumentalists who attend. Many festival-goers are musicians themselves, and the event draws more than 10,000 people every year.
"They come and enjoy the bands, and after the music is over for the day, they sit and pick and play," said Beth Hayworth of the Bill Monroe Music Park & Campground. "It's just an all-around, laid-back, easy good time."
Camping is a popular choice of lodging in Bean Blossom, too, as the music park offers more than 300 campsites with electric and water hookup and another 300 primitive sites.
Closer to home than Indiana but about 200 miles northeast of Conway is Curryville, Missouri, home of the Back Forty Bluegrass Festival, another twice-annual bluegrass festival in state that will mark its eighth year Sept. 3-6. And the options don't end there - a handful of other bluegrass festivals are scheduled this summer in Missouri, with even more in neighboring states.
"It's very relaxing," Dean said. "You just take your lawn chairs and sit out.
"It's just good, clean fun."
Summer 2015 Midwest bluegrass festivals
HOBA Bluegrass Festival, West Plains, Missouri; June 4-6
Ozark Rivers Bluegrass Festival, Eminence, Missouri; June 11-13
Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival, Bean Blossom, Indiana; June 13-20
Sliced Bread Jam Bluegrass Festival, Chillicothe, Missouri, June 19-20
Crazy Horse Campground Bluegrass Festival, Ashland, Illinois; June 26-28
Sally Mountain Park Bluegrass Festival, Queen City, Missouri; July 1-5
Starvy Creek Summer Bluegrass Festival, Conway, Missouri; July 2-4
Bluegrass Fever, Sheridan, Indiana; July 10-11
Wakarusa Bluegrass Festival, Wakarusa, Indiana; June 12-15
Back Forty September Bluegrass Festival, Curryville, Missouri; Sept. 3-6
Labor Day Weekend Bluegrass Music Festival, Kendallville, Indiana; Sept. 3-6
Walnut Valley Festival, Winfield, Kansas; Sept. 16-20
Starvy Creek Fall Bluegrass Festival, Conway, Missouri; Sept. 17-19