The Stapleton Bluegrass Festival, the largest fundraiser for Stapleton School, is preparing for its 2025 return with a lineup that organizers say will be bigger and better than ever.

The festival will be held on the school grounds Oct. 25 from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at 35480 Harriott Ave. in Stapleton.

The event has quickly earned a reputation as one of the top music festivals in the region. According to a news release on the event, local reporters have called it “the finest Bluegrass festival on the Gulf Coast,” while Bama Buzz named it “the best place for live Bluegrass music in the state of Alabama.”

This year’s program will feature six bands from local, regional and national stages, offering a mix of traditional and contemporary Bluegrass. Attendees can also enjoy eight food and beverage trucks and a variety of family-friendly activities.

“Our school’s largest and most important fundraiser has built a solid reputation as one of the best music festivals in the region as well as a can’t-miss event for those who enjoy live music, great food and family-friendly activities,” Principal Jim Perry said in the release.

A COMMUNITY TRADITION WITH A PURPOSE

While the festival has become a Baldwin County tradition, Perry said staging an event of this scale requires significant upfront costs. Sponsorships help make the festival possible while also supporting educational opportunities for Stapleton students.

Sponsors receive recognition through event signage and publicity on the school system’s website, social media accounts and the festival’s online platforms. More information on sponsorships and festival details is available at www.stapletonbluegrassfestival.com or on the festival’s Facebook page. The school can be reached at (251) 937-2038.

A SCHOOL ROOTED IN NATURE

For many, the festival highlights not only the music but the unique setting of Stapleton School itself. The elementary school, the second smallest in Baldwin County, sits nestled among old oak trees and rolling terrain that includes a stream turning into a brook during rainy seasons. Wildlife is abundant on the campus, from croaking frogs to songbirds, inspiring the school’s environmentally focused philosophy.

Through grants from Gulf Coast RC&D, support from the North Baldwin Coalition for Excellence in Education and donations from local businesses, the campus has transformed into a certified Outdoor Classroom with the help of students, parents, staff, Master Gardeners and community volunteers.

Outdoor stations include a frog pond and bog, a pollinator garden, a songbird garden, a dry creek bed and a pitcher plant bog. Students interact daily with the living classroom, from naming the resident frog “Timmy” to observing chickadees nesting in birdhouses.

The school also boasts a fully equipped greenhouse funded through a grant secured by Perry. Teachers, working with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Master Gardeners, incorporate gardening into lessons. Students recently transplanted seedlings grown in the greenhouse and gave them as Mother’s Day gifts.

Each class at Stapleton also takes on a service project, ranging from collecting donations for animal shelters to cleaning up the school’s stream through the Alabama PALS Adopt-a-Stream and Clean Campus programs. A recycling initiative, supported by points earned through PALS, placed recycling cans across campus, and new water bottle filling stations help reduce plastic waste.

EDUCATION BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

At Stapleton, lessons in environmental stewardship go hand in hand with Alabama’s academic standards. Students are taught to work together, clean up after themselves and respect not only one another but also the creatures who share their campus.

The focus on sustainability underscores Alabama’s unique natural heritage. The state ranks 4th in biodiversity nationwide and leads the country in the number of turtle, crayfish, pitcher plant and freshwater fish, snail and mussel species.

For the Stapleton community, the Bluegrass Festival is more than music. It’s a chance to showcase a hidden gem of a school while raising vital funds to keep its programs thriving.