Archives :

  • 2023 Event Schedule

    Wednesday Evening Campground Shelter FREE 7PM – Jamming in the Round  Bring your instrument and join us! Thursday Evening Amphitheater $6 7-9 PM – Open Stage Concert Friday Afternoon Amphitheater $5 1 PM – Open Stage 2 PM – Old-Time Banjo Gatherin’  3 PM – Dulcimer Gatherin’ Friday Evening Amphitheater $9   7 -11 PM – Evening Concert […]

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  • 2022 Fraley Festival

    We are pleased to announce that the Fraley Festival of Traditional Music will be taking place at Carter Caves Park on September 7-10, 2022.  There are currently no restrictions on gatherings at Kentucky State Parks. It will be so good to gather together and play music again. We expect it to be pretty much the same as […]

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  • 2020 Festival Update

    We are very sad to announce that, due to the ongoing situation with Covid-19, we feel the safest thing to do is to cancel this year’s Fraley Festival at Carter Caves. That does not mean that the music will be silent this September though. We are working on broadcasting a online concert instead, using a […]

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  • John P. Tierney 1946-2020

    John Tierney, retired Carter Caves naturalist and one of the best friends the Fraley Festival ever had, passed away on Jan. 11, 2020. He always supported the Fraley Festival and helped bring it back to Carter Caves in the late 1970’s where it has been ever since. John was also our connection to our past, […]

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  • Square Dancing at Cascade

    Come Enjoy Music and Dance in a Cave! Saturday 2:30-4:30 pm Square dancing was a tradition for many years at the Fraley Festival and we have decided to bring it back, with a Carter Caves twist – have it at Cascade Cave! In the 1930s, before the park owned it, Cascade Cave was used for […]

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  • Mountain Minor

    Dale Farmer, who comes to the festival and plays with folks from SW Ohio, has made a film called The Mountain Minor. Inspired by real events, The Mountain Minor is about a family that leaves their Appalachian home searching for work and the music that plays such a crucial role in unifying them across generations. The […]

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  • 2017 Festival

    The 2017 Festival was a great success! Thanks to all the staff and performers and most of all to everyone who came and enjoyed it.

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  • KET Muse Episode

    In 2007 KET filmed an episode of Kentucky Muse at the Festival, which was then called the JP Fraley Mountain Music Gatherin’. The one-hour documentary “Mountain Music Gatherin’,” directed and produced by Tom Thurman, takes viewers to the 2007 gatherin’ at Carter Caves State Resort Park near Olive Hill, Kentucky. Through interviews with musicians and […]

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  • Featured Performers

    The Fraley Festival of Traditional Music features a mix of young and old, and amateur and professional musicians from across the Appalachian region, and occasionally from across the world. These talented individuals all share a love of traditional Eastern Kentucky music. A few featured performers Robin Kessinger The 1937 Flood The Corndrinkers John Harrod John […]

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  • About the Festival

    The Fraley Festival of Traditional Music is held every year at Carter Caves State Resort Park in eastern Kentucky. The festival began as a Fraley family reunion in the early 1970s but soon grew to encompass an extensive extended musical family. The festival attracts performers and music fans from across the United States to share […]

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