{"id":26049,"date":"2026-11-12T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/?p=26049"},"modified":"2026-11-09T18:49:05","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T18:49:05","slug":"american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival: Tradition with a purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iron skillets were greased, mules were shod, and fiddles were tuned for the sixth annual American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival, which kicked off Thursday, Sept. 24. Fourth graders explored pioneer skills such as blacksmithing, cast-iron cooking, beekeeping, animal husbandry, and the history of mules. Students also learned about the origins of bluegrass music and enjoyed ice cream churned by a mule. Steve Hall and Friends performed later that evening, and Billy Beech and Friends hosted a fish fry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Friday, everyone wore pink to honor Dolly Parton. The craft show began at 10 a.m., along with the American Mule and Music Association Gaited Mule Show. Meanwhile, the city of Shelbyville hosted the Jr. Mule Skinner Education Program in the Champions Arena for hundreds of homeschoolers. The aroma of brisket, beans, cornbread, and spicy apple cobbler wafted through the arena as Jeremy Jones demonstrated old-fashioned chuckwagon recipes. The North American Saddle Mule and Donkey Show followed at 4 p.m., and Stillhouse Reelers performed at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/11\/3-5-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26053\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photos submitted by Marty Gordon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saturday brought a similar schedule, including the North American Saddle Mule and Donkey Show, cast-iron cook-offs for adults and juniors, mule-packing demonstrations, the Big Burro Shootout, the Mule and Horse Draft Pull and the Fastest Mule Race. Entertainment included the JamesvStembridge Family Band, The GrassKickers, the Stones River Bluegrass Band and The Borrowed Mules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A heartfelt memorial tribute was held at 2 p.m. for Marine veteran Aaron Hudson, who died in April 2026. Hudson was a staff member of the American Mule and Music Association. His sons, Mason and Rocker, honored their father while Donavan Chapman sang \u201cPut Me on a Horse Man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/11\/2-5-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26052\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photos submitted by Marty Gordon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival established a scholarship in Hudson\u2019s honor at First Community Bank. The scholarship will be awarded to a high school senior in April 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the past six years, the American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival has donated six mules, raising nearly $50,000 for charities. This year, organizers auctioned off Moses, raising $10,000 for Mission Mules Disaster Relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/11\/4-5-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26054\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photos submitted by Marty Gordon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Sunday, pancakes were served before Marty Ray Gordon, founder of the American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival, led \u201cCowboy Church.\u201d Jessica Horton provided music for the service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gordon said, \u201cOur youth success is increased when wisdom is passed down to them!\u201d <strong>GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iron skillets were greased, mules were shod, and fiddles were tuned for the sixth annual American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival, which kicked off Thursday, Sept. 24. Fourth graders explored pioneer skills such as blacksmithing, cast-iron cooking, beekeeping, animal husbandry, and the history of mules. Students also learned about the origins of bluegrass music and enjoyed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":26051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[75,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shelbyville","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival: Tradition with a purpose - Shelbyville, TN Good News Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival: Tradition with a purpose - Shelbyville, TN Good News Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Iron skillets were greased, mules were shod, and fiddles were tuned for the sixth annual American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival, which kicked off Thursday, Sept. 24. Fourth graders explored pioneer skills such as blacksmithing, cast-iron cooking, beekeeping, animal husbandry, and the history of mules. Students also learned about the origins of bluegrass music and enjoyed [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shelbyville, TN Good News Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-11-12T06:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/11\/1-5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amanda E. West\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amanda E. West\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Amanda E. West\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/967f5fa75cb5a144848b190e20f0a34e\"},\"headline\":\"American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival: Tradition with a purpose\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-12T06:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":392,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/1-5.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Shelbyville\",\"Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival: Tradition with a purpose - Shelbyville, TN Good News Exchange\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/1-5.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-12T06:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/967f5fa75cb5a144848b190e20f0a34e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/1-5.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/1-5.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival: Tradition with a purpose\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/\",\"name\":\"Shelbyville, TN Good News Exchange\",\"description\":\"Celebrating Good News, Big or Small in Shelbyville, TN\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/967f5fa75cb5a144848b190e20f0a34e\",\"name\":\"Amanda E. West\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7555c214c6488e247e49d87faf8ffeb4c5ef6e90bdecbe9b9f109da31f5c3a71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7555c214c6488e247e49d87faf8ffeb4c5ef6e90bdecbe9b9f109da31f5c3a71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7555c214c6488e247e49d87faf8ffeb4c5ef6e90bdecbe9b9f109da31f5c3a71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Amanda E. West\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/shelbyville\\\/author\\\/amandawest\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival: Tradition with a purpose - Shelbyville, TN Good News Exchange","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival: Tradition with a purpose - Shelbyville, TN Good News Exchange","og_description":"Iron skillets were greased, mules were shod, and fiddles were tuned for the sixth annual American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival, which kicked off Thursday, Sept. 24. Fourth graders explored pioneer skills such as blacksmithing, cast-iron cooking, beekeeping, animal husbandry, and the history of mules. Students also learned about the origins of bluegrass music and enjoyed [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/","og_site_name":"Shelbyville, TN Good News Exchange","article_published_time":"2026-11-12T06:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/11\/1-5.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Amanda E. West","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Amanda E. West","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/"},"author":{"name":"Amanda E. West","@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/#\/schema\/person\/967f5fa75cb5a144848b190e20f0a34e"},"headline":"American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival: Tradition with a purpose","datePublished":"2026-11-12T06:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/"},"wordCount":392,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/11\/1-5.jpg","articleSection":["Shelbyville","Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/","url":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/","name":"American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival: Tradition with a purpose - Shelbyville, TN Good News Exchange","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/11\/1-5.jpg","datePublished":"2026-11-12T06:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/#\/schema\/person\/967f5fa75cb5a144848b190e20f0a34e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/11\/1-5.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/11\/1-5.jpg","width":1200,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/american-mule-bluegrass-festival-2026\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"American Mule &amp; Bluegrass Festival: Tradition with a purpose"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/#website","url":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/","name":"Shelbyville, TN Good News Exchange","description":"Celebrating Good News, Big or Small in Shelbyville, TN","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/#\/schema\/person\/967f5fa75cb5a144848b190e20f0a34e","name":"Amanda E. West","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7555c214c6488e247e49d87faf8ffeb4c5ef6e90bdecbe9b9f109da31f5c3a71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7555c214c6488e247e49d87faf8ffeb4c5ef6e90bdecbe9b9f109da31f5c3a71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7555c214c6488e247e49d87faf8ffeb4c5ef6e90bdecbe9b9f109da31f5c3a71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Amanda E. West"},"url":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/author\/amandawest\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26049"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26056,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26049\/revisions\/26056"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}