3322 Locke's Mill Rd, Berryville, VA 22611, USA
1 Flood Plain Alon Berryville Virginia 22611 US

It all started back when…. Mr. John U. Miller Sr. purchased the 300 acre farm in 1939. Mr. Miller Sr. and his family proceeded to turn the 26 acres of river front into a thriving Watermelon Field and opened the Miller Fruit Stand on the corner of Rt. 7 and Chilly Hollow Rd. (Today it is known as Nall’s Market). In 1942 Mr. Miller started a “Watermelon Festival” that would feature a variety of old-time games and activities, plus a Fiddling Contest. He would also carve up a truck load of watermelons and personally hand each guest a free slice!

Mr. Miller Sr., having a great appreciation for the new genre of music being played in the area known as “Bluegrass”, teamed up with Don Owens, a music promoter,  and together they founded “Bluegrass Day”, held on August 10,1960 right here at Watermelon Park!   This date marks the birth of the disputably very first  Bluegrass Festival in the country! As the festival grew folks would simply sleep in the fields after the show. Mr. Miller saw a demand for a camping area and they turned the ol’ watermelon patch into Watermelon Park Campground. As the old saying goes… “the rest is history!”
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