RAPIDGRASS

band at the time.

So, their Dad, Mike Morris, said they had a thought; “Maybe we should try and do something in the valley, have a little festival?” e idea stuck.

“It was their idea ... so, we decided to see what would happen if we had a little festival,” he said.

“We booked an afternoon on a Saturday down here in the ball eld, hired a few bands, rented a stage, put it right here at home plate. We had 300 some people show up the rst year,” Mike said. “We made about $200, and that was a Rapidgrass event. It was just the rst one.”

Mark and Sarah weren’t done.

“And they thought, ‘ is is great. Let’s do it next year,’” Mike Morris said.

Still, it needed a name.

“Sarah said, ‘Let’s call it Rapidgrass. So, bluegrass, fast music.’ And Mark said, ‘ at’s a great idea. I’m going to name my band Rapidgrass,’” Mike explained.

Rapidgrass Bluegrass Festival was born and continues to grow.

“I’m not kidding, it was a lot of work,” Mike said.

In time, Mike said, the community started to get involved. e Downtown Idaho Springs Merchants Association along with the Clear Creek Metropolitan Recreation District were on board. Mike remembers they o ered to take care of everything: vendors, food, drink, parking, security, everything.

“‘You just take care of the music,’” Morris recalls them saying. “We said, ‘ row us in the briar patch.’” e annual festival continues to draw musicians and bands from across the country and around the world to Idaho Springs. Bluegrass fans also ock to our small town from every corner of Colorado and beyond.

Mark and Sarah said the festival will be for back a 15th year as they laughed with each other and looked out at the stage on a baseball eld lled with dancing, friends and families: a community joining together for at least a couple of days.

You can see the humble pride they take in an idea hatched more than a decade ago.

“What would happen if we had a little festival?”