Lester Flatt Celebration Rained On, But Never Rained Out

Lester Flatt Celebration is one of the biggest events in Sparta each year. This year, rain may have put a big damper on the vendors present, but inside the city’s new “Sparta Event Center,” it was still packed as performers gave it their all.

The rain certainly did impact how busy it was on October 10. Half of the vendors that were scheduled to be set up around Liberty Square either canceled or could not risk going into the rain with their product. As a result, most folks doing the rounds ended up at the main attraction much faster: the new center.

Formerly Christpoint Church, the city bought the building awhile back when the church moved locations. Located right beside Oldham Theatre, the new center only needed a bit of touching up before the city could begin to host events inside it. While the rain was not something they wanted, it did give a perfect opportunity to test out the new center and its acoustics, and it certainly did not disappoint. By around noon, the room was firmly packed as performers played. Well known performers like Blake Williams, John Daniel Meyer, and Kentucky Just Us came all this way just to perform for little Sparta. The ETSU Bluegrass Pride Band was also there, and the students performed fantastically.

So, while there may have been a bit of rain on the parade, so to speak, for the festivities outside, Lester Flatt Celebration still went strong inside the new Sparta Event Center. Folks certainly still enjoyed the music, and that is one of the biggest things Lester Flatt Celebration has always been about.