Rockygrass Festival Sign Of Recovery For Lyons
LYONS, Colo. (CBS4) – There was a milestone for the town of Lyons and a popular concert venue this weekend.
Last fall flood waters tore Planet Bluegrass to pieces, but this year it's hosting its first major concert event since the disaster – a 3-day bluegrass festival that drew thousands of music fans – and it took an awful lot of work to pull it off.
It took months of work, hours of manpower, and about $1.5 million; but of course, it was all worth it. At RockyGrass the audience could hardly tell that at one point last September the entire area was under 4 feet of water.
"We are just amazed they could get it up and going again in a short amount of time," festival attendee Jill Wilson said.
"This property ... looked like a lake, but you know, a raging lake," said Brian Eyster, Planet Bluegrass communications director. "There was definitely that fear of, what land was going to be left?"
Property owner Craig Ferguson also lives on the property.
"You get over that pretty quick and you realize how much you have to do," Ferguson said.
PHOTO GALLERY: Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band At RockyGrass
While most structures weathered the storm, there were mounds and mounds of debris, twisted trees and dirt to dig through.
"We took a thousand dump trucks full of sediment and debris out of here," Ferguson said.
With the RockyGrass festival in mind, crews worked as fast as they could to rebuild and repair.
"Whenever there was an obstacle people were willing to work long hours, 7 days a week," said Steve Szymanski, VP of Planet Bluegrass and one of its founders.
It came down to the wire.
"Electricity converted to permanent Tuesday," Ferguson said.
But with community in mind, the 20-acre lot flooded with smiles instead of water this year.
People say getting the area done in time for the festival really proves that Lyons is stronger and better than ever.
LINK: RockyGrass
Planet Bluegrass has two more music festivals coming up on their grounds in Lyons in upcoming months -- the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival and Yonder Mountain String Band's Kinfolk Celebration.
