View Appaloosa Day One coverage here.
After a great first day of music, food, and revelry, it’s hard to imagine Front Royal, VA’s Appaloosa Festival getting any better, but day two brought some great bands to the stage to draw in the crowd and bring even more energy to the festival grounds.
Featuring a second set from Nashville’s Humming House, Asheville, NC-based Fireside Collective, one of my favorite groups, Mandolin Orange, and NYC-based Karikatura, Sunday’s lineup brought listeners on a journey through bluegrass, folk, ska, reggae, and pop.
Also included in Sunday’s lineup were local favorites Mountain Duo, Hudson Valley-based Upstate, and the U.S. Army Field Band Ensemble, Six String Soldiers.
The festival crowd was even more engaged on the second day. As Mandolin Orange left the stage, the audience called for an encore, chanting, “One more song!” a tradition that continued through the night as they couldn’t get enough of the each band’s set.
Front Royal natives and festival hosts Scythian closed out the festival with the final official set before turning things over to the late night afterparty at the Skyline Ranch Resort’s saloon, where Karikatura and the New Familiars kept the party going until well after 2 AM.
As I awoke the next morning and started packing our campsite, there was a spirit in the air of anticipation for next year’s event. We bumped into some fellow festival goers when we stopped for some breakfast on the way through town and shared some memories before making the five-hour trip back to our home in North Carolina. I look forward to being a part of Appaloosa next year.
If you’d like to learn more about Appaloosa and keep up with announcements about next year’s event, check out the festival’s website and social media (Instagram, Facebook), and let us know if you’ll be there!