While COVID-19 travel restrictions kept most of the international fans from attending the Mount Airy Bluegrass and Old Time Fiddler’s Convention over the weekend, there were plenty of stateside fans more than happy to see the event return after a pandemic-forced hiatus last year.
“I’m not sure how many people were there,” said Judy Joyner, who along with her husband, Doug Joyner, were in charge of this year’s festival. “But I had 700 car registrations, and I gave them all away.”
That, she said, did not include people who parked their vehicles on nearby streets and walked into the festival.
“We’ve had lots of comments from people coming in about being glad to be here, glad the convention is back,” said Michael Thorpe, a former park board member and long-time volunteer with the…