 The 13th annual Lakes Bluegrass Festival in Pine River last week featured 40 of the professional main state entertainment hands-on workshops and jam sessions. The four-day event prevents nationally known regional and local bluegrass brands and provides not only an opportunity for underserved communities to hear some of the nation's and Minnesota's best bluegrass artists perform on stage, but also to participate and learn about the American folk music genre through hands-on workshops presented by the performing band members. We do it every year. It's a labor of love. It's really threefold, is really to promote bluegrass music up in our area, to bring bluegrass bands that most people won't be able to hear on their own, to bring them right up here, to create a family-friendly event that you can come out and just really enjoy yourself in a safe environment and also to raise money and put it back into the Pine River community. The festival is held every year in late August at Cass County Fairgrounds in Pine River. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.