For three decades now, many Pulaski Countians have been spending part of their summer at Master Musicians Festival. The concert’s organizers want people to keep coming well into the future also.
To do that, a second-year project is helping inspire the next generation of MMF fans by giving them a no-cost taste of what the event is all about.
The Next Generation Initiative allows businesses to sponsor the current graduating classes at local and regional institutions of learning to attend the festival. Last year, MMF did this for the first time, securing free passes to the 30th-year concert for graduating high school seniors. This year, regional colleges are being included in that number as well — Somerset Community College, Campbellsville University Somerset Campus, and even reaching into the far corners of eastern Kentucky with the University of Pikeville.
“All of us on the board, we know that the festival has been going on for 31 years. We know that the board members before us took measures to ensure that people like us, when we got older, fell in love with the festival and wanted to continue it,” said MMF Executive Director Tiffany Finley.
“The best way for people to fall in love with the festival is to get to be there and see it and enjoy it,” she continued. “So we were like, what a great way to ensure the future of our festival, to give the ability to students who are either going off to college or maybe already in college and are going off in their lives to remember that they have a home right here in Somerset, Pulaski County, at an amazing event.”
Seniors in the class of 2024 at Somerset High School, Southwestern High School and Pulaski County High School will be sponsored by Somerset Pellet Fuel, which did likewise last year, and Wayne County High School seniors are being sponsored by The Law Office of Rhonda Hatfield-Jeffers once again — Hatfield-Jeffers is an MMF board member and grew up in Wayne County.
Somerset Community College’s graduating students are being sponsored by Citizens Bank, and Campbellsville and UPIKE are sponsoring their own graduating classes.
“We are on the home of Somerset Community College,” said Finley, referencing Festival Field located behind the north campus of SCC, in discussing the decision to include more than just high schools this year. “Campbellsville University had asked about their graduating students and wanted to sponsor them, and then we were like, ‘Yes, we obviously want Campbellsville seniors to be able to do that,’ but our home host is SCC, so then we were like, ‘Why don’t we open this up to other colleges?’ If someone’s willing to sponsor it, then why not?”
Serendipity led to the University of Pikeville’s involvement. The school was sponsoring another festival which Finley was involved in, and Finley ended up randomly sitting next to UPIKE’s marketing director, and telling her about MMF.
“She fell in love with the idea and (said), ‘We want to sponsor what you’re doing as well,’” said Finley. “Not only did Pikeville come in and sponsor their Next Generation, but they did a $10,000 sponsorship, which is what we call a Diamond level sponsorship, on top of supporting their seniors.”
Finley noted that the musical act Sundy Best, out of far eastern Kentucky, has been a friend of MMF for a long time, and in particular, member Nick Jamerson, who attended UPIKE, so the school has connections to the festival, and “they’re coming and supporting MMF in a big way,” said Finley.
Potentially, a total of around 4,000 students could benefit from the Next Generation initiative.
“It’s a great way for (young people) to hear about the festival but also invest their love into it for the future,” said Finley.
Each participating school will provide MMF with a list of current-year graduates. To claim their weekend pass, students simply have to bring an ID to the entrance gate on the Friday or Saturday of the festival. Passes will only be released to the student and are non-transferrable.
Sponsorships are still available for businesses in other communities that wish to support their graduating seniors. For more information, email Finley at mastermusiciansfestival@gmail.com.
This year’s MMF will be held on Festival Field Friday, July 19 and Saturday, July 20. Headlining a roster of 27 local, state and national acts across two stages is rock band The Wallflowers, featuring Jakob Dylan, known to many for the 1997 hit “One Headlight.”
For more information about the 2024 Master Musicians Festival, visit mastermusiciansfestival.org.
“When you look at the makeup of volunteers and our board of directors now versus 31 years ago, you see an interesting trend — many of them had parents who either helped create or served MMF when it began,” stated Finley. “The best way for us to continue fostering relationships with the next generation, who will lead this festival when we are all gone, is to welcome them and show them what a magical experience MMF is and what an incredible benefit it brings to the community. This initiative also reinforces our mission to bring music to people of all walks of life and support music education. Both are extremely important.”
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