For me, our 51^st Walnut Valley Festival was a study in contrasts. There were so many things that went well in 2023, even the weather, and our surveys reflected that. There was a level of positivity and appreciation for the festival that surpassed any survey results I have seen since I started here. WVA staff, though, were dealing with our loss of some key people, and struggling to make sure that everything was set up and ready for our guests.

Our performer lineup seemed to go over well, and many of the bands new to Winfield seemed to be very popular with our crowd. You will see several of those new performers return this year, but you will also see more new faces again in our lineup for 2024.

Shirt and mug sales returned to grounds, and designs from both vendors were very popular. I want to thank River Rat Custom Print & Skate (Lawrence, KS) and Mostaza Gallery (Harper, KS) for making it through your first year, and we hope to partner up with you again next year. We had several new crafts booths and luthiers represented, and Heart of Texas Baskets & Kim’s Craft Corner (tied for 1^st Place), Parham Custom Leather (2^nd Place) and The Whittler’s Wife were recognized for their outstanding booths in the Paulette Rush Arts & Crafts Fair. Family Tree Meats were also recognized in the pantry.

We had over 100 new workers in our crew this year, which was wonderful, and we thank you all for your hard work before, during and after festival. We hope you are hooked on the challenging but rewarding work that we do to organize the festival, and that we will see you back next year.

At the same time, we were missing several people from our festival staff and crew, including Kendra Redford (passed away in June) and Rick Meyer (in hospital during festival, and passed away in late September). With Rick in hospital, there were so many people on crew and staff who stepped up, taking up many of the myriad tasks that Rick somehow always completed during festival.

Because of persistent difficulties in staffing the night shifts, we made the decision to close our main gate and reentry overnight during festival. We found that very few festival-goers showed up in those late hours, and those who did were content to pull in and wait until the gate opened in the morning. That change allowed us to save our staff from having to work some overnight shifts, and we appreciate your understanding.

As always, we had some of the best pickers in the world win at our 8 instrument championships. Acoustic Music Shoppe, a streamed variety show held in between contests at Stage IV, filmed ALL of the contest finals, and you can find links to those in our digital occasional. We want to thank the Chapman Brothers and their crew for building a great program for our festival-goers and for bringing the Walnut Valley Festival to viewers around the world.

Looking ahead to 2024, we have adopted a new tiered ticket system for teens, making it much more affordable for families to attend Walnut Valley Festival. The new system has parents purchasing tickets for teens 11-15 years-old paying half the cost of an adult ticket, rather than full adult price as in the past. Speaking of tickets, Early-Bird Tickets are available for purchase online or in our office—they make great holiday gifts. But get them early, because they only last through February 15.

We have been putting together an amazing lineup of performers for our 52nd festival, some of whom are featured in this newsletter. Aside from the official stages with hours of talented picking, we will have 8 instrument championships, a juried arts and crafts fair, and some great food vendors. You can expect all this and more, in 2024!

Bart Redford
Executive Director