Wintergrass Information

What is Wintergrass?
Wintergrass is a family-friendly Bluegrass music festival, with concerts and dances at 4 different stages. There are also two Academies, workshops, impromptu jams, and a chance to see and hear some great music.

Where is Wintergrass being held?
Wintergrass takes place in the newly remodeled Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bellevue, WA. The Hyatt has plenty of 24 hour jamming space and room for 4 stages all under one roof. Plenty of hotel rooms are available with a special rate for the Wintergrass block of room.

Where are the events located in the Hyatt Regency?
Click here to see a floor plan of the Hyatt Regency's function spaces. Also, you can take a narrated video tour of the Wintergrass spaces.

How long is Wintergrass?
A Wintergrass weekend is 4 days long. People begin gathering for the weekend as early as Thursday for and stay through Monday. For those with not quite as much time or devotion, single day ticket options are readily available. Shows begin on Friday around 5pm and on Saturday around 2pm. Workshops are offered all day Friday and Saturday. The festival concludes with all-day concerts on Sunday ending around 5pm. Throughout all this, the hotel lobbies are replete with impromptu jams.

What times are the shows?
While there is a bit of fluctuation from year to year, you can use this info as a basic guide for show times:

Thursday: Shows begin at 7pm
Friday: Workshops start at 9:30am; shows start at 5pm and go until as late as 1am
Saturday: Workshops start at 9:30am; shows start as early as 12:45pm and go until as late as 1am
Sunday: Shows start at 10:30am and end no later than 5pm

What type of music is played at the Festival?
While Wintergrass is primarily a Bluegrass music festival, you'll hear plenty of other styles of acoustic music including Gypsy jazz, Celtic music, Old-Timey, Swedish polskas and many more types of acoustic string music. Jam sessions reflect the diversity of styles with young and old alike participating in every nook and cranny. Don't be shy! Don't leave home without your instrument. The festival maintains a convenient Instrument Check room so that you can safely stash your instrument while you enjoy shows.

What are workshops (and do I have to pay extra for them)?
Workshops, which are included in the price of admission, cover a variety of topics and are designed for all levels of ability. You'll have a chance to hear about musical theory, practical approaches to the every day problems that musicians face, and leave with inspiration that you can incorporate into your own musical experience. It's a chance to broaden your knowledge base, or dig deeper into a particular topic – the choice is up to you.

Do I get a physical ticket when I buy my pass?
Wintergrass does not issue paper tickets. Rather, your ticket purchases are recorded in a database which is printed up as a registration book. When you arrive at the festival, please proceed to festival registration where our happy volunteers will look you up, have you sign for, and then issue your wristbands. You're then free to go on your way to enjoy the festival. Registration opens at noon on Thursday and at 8:30am every day thereafter. Festival registration is located on the second level of the large Wintergarden area at the Hyatt Regency. You may either walk up the sweeping staircase or take the elevators located in the Wintergarden area to get to festival registration.

Do I have to buy additional tickets to see certain shows?
Your weekend pass gets you into ALL shows, dances, and festival workshops from Thursday through Sunday! Single day tickets are also available and gain you entrance into ALL shows, dances and festival workshops for that day.

What is your refund policy?
Wintergrass does not issue refunds. Exceptions, of course, are made for medical or family emergencies.

No refund requests of any kind will be processed, responded to or otherwise acknowledged from Friday February 17th through Tuesday March 1st. We simply do not have the bandwidth during this time period to work on refunds. Please resepct this.

I've never been to Bellevue before. Where can I get information on the city?
When planning your trip to Wintergrass this year, the best place to find information about all things Bellevue is at  www.bellevue.com.   As the City of Bellevue's premier address online,  Bellevue.com  is your definitive online city guide for What to Do, Where to Go, What's New and What's Happening in Bellevue and the Eastside.

I'm planning on coming in my RV. Is there an RV park nearby? - UPDATED
RV parking is available at the Diamond Parking Lot located at NE 10th at 106th directly across the street from the Hyatt. The cost for one space is $30 per day. Most Oversized Vehicles or RVs will require two spaces. These are not Camping spaces and you may not sleep in your vehicle in those lots. Spaces must be reserved in advance by calling 425-462-4208 between 8am and 4pm. The office normally closes at 4pm on Thursdays and Fridays and is not open on the weekend. Credit card payments are not accepted. You must mail in payment prior to your arrival. Your permit will be mailed to you.

If you want to RV camp, please check out Trailer Inns RV Parks. They are about 2 miles away from the Wintergrass site.

Are there any good restaurants in the area?
This is our recommended dining list. It will undoubtedly be added to, but these are the folks who have agreed to tangibly support the festival in one way or another. Bellevue is way different than Tacoma. It's a very busy place. We suggest you think about making dinner reservations before you even arrive in town.

As festival time approaches check back to this page for more detailed information about parking, transportation, special deals for festival goers and more.