[Aug 2002]    To thousands across the country who make the annual pilgrimage there, it's known as simply 'Winfield.'

Residents of that Kansas town tend to call it 'the bluegrass festival.'

And surely somewhere, somebody calls it by its name - The Walnut Valley Festival.

In its 31st year, it's one of Kansas' oldest music traditions. And it's one of the largest ‹ more than 15,000 people buy tickets to the four day festival every year. Hundreds more set up camp just outside the official festival gates, content with the countless impromptu shows heard around the clock and around every turn of the fairgrounds' 135 acres.

The festival's four official stages showcase big name acts from sunup to well past sundown Sept. 19th through the 22nd.

For many, though, the Walnut Valley Festival is already beginning.            [ Go to Full Story... ]