In the Fall of 1972, around 10,000 people descended on the Winfield, Kansas fairgrounds to enjoy a long weekend of camping, crafts, and bluegrass music. Fifty years later, the Walnut Valley Festival and National Flat-Picking Championships is still going strong. Learn about the origins of the festival, why the early 1970s was the right moment for the creation of this kind of event, the camp culture that has made the festival so unique, and the larger community created around Bluegrass.