By James Straub

BLUE HILL — Five years ago, Royce and LouAnna Perkins hosted a “pickin’ party” at their home in Penobscot.

The event was so much fun that the Perkins family decided to crank it up a notch, and Perkinstock was born.

Performers during a recent Perkinstock festival in Penobscot. Photo courtesy of Royce Perkins

For the past three years, the Perkinstock Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival has attracted hundreds of fans to the annual three-day festival at the Perkins’ home in Penobscot.

This year the fourth annual Perkinstock Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival will be held at the Blue Hill Fairgrounds.

As always, the festival will be held the second full weekend in August. That’s Aug. 12-14 this year.

And as always, the three-day event will feature the best of bluegrass and old-time acoustic country music, all wrapped in family-oriented fun.

“Old-time implies early country music,” said Royce Perkins. “It’s country music before it was electrified — all unplugged instruments.”

Among this year’s performers is Leroy Troy, Nashville’s “old-time banjo wizard.”

“He’s fantastic,” Perkins said. “He’s a great entertainer, an old-time singer and a wizard on banjo.”

Champion fiddler and mandolin player Ray Legere of New Brunswick will bring his band to the festival.

Birchmountain Bluegrass of Nova Scotia is back by popular demand. Several Maine bands and performers complete the entertainment lineup.

“There’s a batch of Maine bands,” Perkins said. “We try to rotate them each year to showcase local talent.”

Yodeling Wade Dow of Brooklin is among the talented locals headed to the Perkinstock stage. Other Maine acts include Blistered Fingers, Misty Mountaineers, the Mueller Family and North Star.

Perkins said the festival has drawn about 500 people in each of the past three years.

“We outgrew it,” he said. “Now it’s time to move over to the fairgrounds.”

One benefit of moving to the fairgrounds is increased parking, especially for those who choose to come for a day.

“We expect more of a crowd there,” Perkins said of the move to Blue Hill. “It will be much better for day parking.”

Those who camp out for the three-day festival also will benefit from fairgrounds venue, which offers power and water hookups, free hot showers and flush toilets.

Should it rain during the festival the drainage at the fairgrounds should prevent excessive mudding and prevent campers and other vehicles from getting stuck.

This year’s festival will include food vendors, instrument workshops, an open stage, a fiddle contest and a children’s music workshop, which will be followed by a young musicians’ performance.

A farmers market will be featured Saturday, and there will be a compact disc and cassette swap. A 50-50 raffle will be held to benefit area fire departments.

The Perkinstock stage built for the first festival with lumber cut from the Perkins’ property will be moved to the fairgrounds.

Perkins said festival organizers will plant grass at the fairgrounds.

“People like to get their feet in the grass while listening to the music,” he said, adding that he much appreciates the Blue Hill Fair Association for its help in organizing this year’s festival.

“We never advertised here,” Perkins said of the festival venue at his home. “I had nightmares of too many showing up. [At the fairgrounds], it’s unlimited, so we’ll spread the word a lot more.”

Perkinstock may be getting bigger, but nothing else will change. While organizers welcome a larger crowd, they will not tolerate drunkenness or rowdiness.

“It’s the same great family festival with a new location,” said Perkins.

For ticket or festival information, visit the Web at www.perkinstock.com, call 326-8609 or e-mail to rwperkins@midmaine.com.

Festival organizers are also recruiting volunteers to help run the festival this year. Those interested should call or e-mail.

“That’s what makes these festivals work,” Perkins said of the camaraderie among festival goers, musicians and volunteer organizers.