SIDELINE will perform at this year’s NEPA Bluegrass Festival.
                                 Submitted photo

SIDELINE will perform at this year’s NEPA Bluegrass Festival.

Submitted photo

<p>The Malpass Brothers, new to this year’s lineup, will perform this weekend at the NEPA Bluegrass Festival.</p>
                                 <p>Submitted photo</p>

The Malpass Brothers, new to this year’s lineup, will perform this weekend at the NEPA Bluegrass Festival.

Submitted photo

<p>Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver will headline this year’s NEPA Bluegrass Festival. This is Lawson’s last year of performing before going off the road.</p>
                                 <p>Submitted photo</p>

Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver will headline this year’s NEPA Bluegrass Festival. This is Lawson’s last year of performing before going off the road.

Submitted photo

<p>Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike, from the Washington D.C. bluegrass scene, will perform at the NEPA Bluegrass Festival this weekend.</p>
                                 <p>Submitted photo</p>

Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike, from the Washington D.C. bluegrass scene, will perform at the NEPA Bluegrass Festival this weekend.

Submitted photo

After more than a year of canceled events, changed plans and postponed ceremonies due to the COVID-19 pandemic, life is finally starting to return to normal. And the organizers of one local music festival couldn’t be more thrilled.

“We’re just super excited for people to come back,” said Christa Stewart, who co-produces the NEPA Bluegrass Festival along with her husband, Danny Stewart. “We’ve missed everybody so much.”

The annual event will return to Tunkhannock Township’s Lazy Brook Park from June 3 to 6. It will feature two music stages, a jam tent, food and craft vendors, workshops, a Sunday Gospel Sing and Jam, open mic, camping and other outdoor activities.

Single-day tickets are $20 for Thursday or Sunday and $35 for Friday or Saturday. Full-event tickets are $90 and include free camping if purchased in advance at nepabluegrass.com. Admission for children younger than 12 is free with the purchase of an adult ticket, and admission for ages 12-16 is half-price.

“I cannot even tell you how much we’ve missed our bluegrass family, and we are so excited to be able to get back to some type of easy, gentle normalcy,” Christa Stewart said. “We really want people to be safe, but we really want people to be happy, and just be outside and enjoy each other. Picking and jamming is just such a tight thing within the [bluegrass] community, and I think people need it.”

A variety of new and returning acts will take the stage for the festival’s 14th year.

Stewart said she is especially excited for the headliner, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. This is Lawson’s last year of performing before going off the road.

“Many people will probably come out just to see him, because this may be their last opportunity,” she said.

One musician who is new to the festival is Dave Adkins, whose show Stewart described as “high energy.”

“He’ll get you crying, but then he’ll get you stompin’ your boots on a sawdust floor and up and dancing,” she said.

The Malpass Brothers are also new to this year’s lineup.

“They’re two brothers out of North Carolina,” Stewart said. “They are honky-tonk, swing, old country, what your grandparents would listen to, but they do it in just a fun back-and-forth manor in a brother kind of way. Just an awesome show, and we’re really excited to have them.”

Another act, Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike, comes from the Washington D.C. bluegrass scene.

“She does a lot of Americana traditional bluegrass, but she kinda does a twist to it,” Stewart said. “She’s just really fun. And Valerie’s the type of gal that will get down and hop off the stage and clog and dance with folks. She’s just a super fireball of energy.”

Returning this year is Little Ray and Lizzy, which Stewart described as “a high-energy and fun band.”

She said the festival will also feature a mix of bands from Pennsylvania including Mama Corn from the Altoona area, Serene Green from the Stroudsburg area, Kevin Doupe from Towanda and Mark Miklos from the Poconos.

For the full lineup and schedule, visit the festival’s website.

The acts will be divided between the main traditional stage and a progressive stage. Stewart described the latter as “a fun scene with a really cool vibe.”

“It’s a good way to bridge that gap between the total pure traditionalists and wanting to bring in the younger folks and provide music that they can relate to,” she said.

But the festival isn’t only about the music. It’s about the people and friendships, both new and old.

“These are not only our friends and our customers, but this is our extended family. … Every person who comes there becomes family to us,” Stewart said. “We’ve missed everybody, and we can’t wait to welcome everybody back.”