The Caverns will present its own festival, CaveFest, featuring a curated line-up including headliners Sam Bush, Leftover Salmon, Infamous Stringdusters and Yonder Mountain String Band, plus artist-in-residence Lindsay Lou, on-site camping, cave tours, delicious food trucks, local vendors and much more on October 8 – 9, 2022.
“Fall is an absolutely gorgeous time to visit Tennessee, and that’s why we picked early October for our first CaveFest,” says The Caverns owner Todd Mayo. “With the addition of our new campground and full capacity outdoor amphitheater combined with our caves, we’re excited to welcome guests for a 2-day festival experience that only The Caverns can deliver.”
Scheduled for a holiday weekend, the inaugural festival will take full advantage of what The Caverns has to offer above and below ground. Main performances will take place at The Caverns Amphitheater with its ample space for blankets, chairs and dancing and surrounding views of the majestic Cumberland Plateau. The Caverns world-famous underground concert hall will host daily jam sessions, cave yoga, old-time square dancing and more to-be-announced activities.
Of course CaveFest will also feature cave tours and underground adventures. Guests will have two days to get deep and explore beneath the Earth’s surface. The Caverns will offer 60-minute walking tours through the otherworldly Big Room Cave that entwine the unique history of the area, geology and mythology of cave lore. For thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies, Adventure Cave Tours will be available to take guests beyond “Tombstone Pass” to see an underground river, a chamber of soda straw formations, and more.
CaveFest line-up includes: Sam Bush, Leftover Salmon, Infamous Stringdusters, Yonder Mountain String Band, Rising Appalachia, Jim Lauderdale, Kitchen Dwellers, The Lil Smokies, Sierra Hull, Rumpke Mountain Boys, Lindsay Lou, Larry Keel Experience, Volunteer String Band, Pressing Strings, Sicard Hollow, Kendall Street Company and Taylor Scott Band. Daily lineups to be announced at a later date.
In addition to Lindsay Lou’s performance slot with her full band, she will be staying at the festival and sitting in with other artists all weekend as the CaveFest “artist-in-residence.” The singer fRoots Magazine describes as “the most affectingly expressive singer since Amy Winehouse” will be creating memorable collaborations by popping on stage for surprise collaborations to create magic CaveFest moments.
2-day tickets for CaveFest, which include camping, start at $99 and are on sale at TheCaverns.com. Additionally, VIP 2-day tickets with camping and overnight packages will be offered. Pending availability, single day tickets will be released at a later date. $1 from every CaveFest ticket will go to the Sewanee Mountain Grotto to support their cave conservation efforts.
