JOHN COFFELTEditor

Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival celebrates first decade

Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival is celebrating ten years this September in Franklin.

Co-founder Brandt Wood called the two-day event more than just a festival. To the organizers Pilgrimage is a spiritual journey.

“We built this ethos around Pilgrimage as a name, as a verb, as an action as a spiritual journey,” Wood said.

“In the middle of our span of 10 years, we crossed a threshold to become a reliable community gathering around music to celebrate Franklin, to celebrate music and to look around and see your neighbors,” he said. “That’s something that we’re very proud of.”

The festival was co-founded by Better Than Ezra frontman Kevin Griffin, along with Wood and Michael Whelan and is held at the Franklin’s Park at Harlinsdale Farm.

Wood said that first year was a financial loss, but the team knew Pilgrimage had to go big if it were to take off. That first year featured acts Wilco, Willie Nelson, Weezer, The Decemberists and Cage The Elephant.

“We put a flag in the ground, we lost money, it was brutal and we recapitalized, but what we did was build a strong enough first year brand where people wanted to re-up with us,” Wood said.

This year’s headliners are Dave Mathews Band, Hozier, Noah Kahan and NEEDTOBREATHE.

“We did book with the 10-year anniversary in mind, and keep it diverse,” Wood said. “There’s some powerful booking…solid, solid top line (acts) and some great middle card discovery artists.”

Woods said the festival distilled down to three stages allow for more power and creativity – quality over quantity.

“That gives people a richer experience,” Wood said. “The stages we put on the shelf were the Kid’s Stage, which is now the Interactive Experience, and the local stage, The Shady Grove, which is now a food truck (venue).”

Each year the festival organizers gain another year of experience and use it to evolve the festival. Timing of the acts and layout of the grounds are optimized to help fans circulate between acts.

“We really think about counter programing for set times to allow for circulation,” Wood said. We don’t have as much overlap. With three stages, it becomes a track meet if you want to see a bunch of bands within an hour or two.

Celebrating its first decade of music is a chance for organizers to look back at what Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival has accomplished.

Wood said he is proud to see how Williamson County and the City of Franklin have embraced the festival.

“I’m really proud that we’ve stuck with it,” he said. “We’ve had tough years as every festival does. We’ve had tough economic years…tough weather years and we’ve powered through those things, learned a lot and emerged stronger.”

Pilgrimage stands out in the way it is embraced by the county and city communities. While some festivals maintain an uneasy alliance with local governments, Pilgrimage organizers said they founded the festival with transparency from the initial pitch to city leaders.

“We (promised) to operate with transparency and be very accountable,” Wood said. “We promised those things before they even heard us talk about the festival.”

Wood said those business principles are what gains people’s trust. The festival hired local when possible, from attorneys to PR firms to boots on the ground festival employees gave local support.

Pilgrimage has held out and stayed independent rather than sell to offers from Live Nation.

“We had opportunities, but we kept it independent,” he said. “And that was a move that kept it boutique and hand-crafted and we make our own decisions. We would be in charge of our own destiny and that’s something we stuck with and I’m glad we did.”

As Pilgrimage grew over the years so did Harlinsdale Farm, sidewalks, lighting and access roads, and Wood said the future bodes well.

“I think you will see more of the same creative booking,” he said. “We may add a Friday or a stage back. There are so many options and possibilities with Harlinsdale.”

Pilgrimage Festival is held Sept. 28-29 in Franklin. For tickets go to https://pilgrimagefestival.com.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.