Pittsboro, NC — Tucked into the rolling countryside of Chatham County, a music festival has become a home for generations of music lovers, dancers and families. Each spring and fall, Shakori Hills transforms 72 acres of farmland into a vibrant celebration of community and sound.

“It’s a place where people can come together and break down any of those preconceived barriers,” said Russ Friedell, talent buyer and marketing director for the GrassRoots series of festivals.

The Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance is happening now through Sunday near Pittsboro. Founded in 2003 as a sister event to the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival in Trumansburg, New York, the nonprofit Shakori Hills Community Arts Center owns the land and produces the festival twice a year.

The event has also become a homecoming for many families. “The Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival is very multigenerational,” said Lissa Farrell, a longtime organizer. “I’ve seen people here this weekend who said, ‘I started coming when I was five, and now they’re here and they have their own kids with them. And then their parents are with them who originally brought them. And for some kids, they just love it here. Like it really became a kids’ festival. And there’s nothing that’s going to get somebody somewhere more than their kid being like, ‘I want to go.”

“It’s almost like it’s a family reunion for a lot of people, once a year or twice a year,” she added. “It’s a reunion not just with your extended family. A lot of people come back; it’s a homecoming. And you do see grandparents with grandchildren, and it is one of the really beautiful things about it.”

The festival has also become a place of discovery. “We pride ourselves on calling GrassRoots Festival a music lover’s paradise,” Friedell said. “And as a music lover, what that means is you’re looking for something. You’re looking for something you’ve never heard of. And this is a place where you might find your next favorite band in a setting that you never anticipated you would have discovered.”

The event traces its roots to the band Donna the Buffalo, which helped start the original New York festival in 1990 with a benefit concert for AIDS work in Tompkins County. “They did a benefit concert for the fight against AIDS raised $10,000 in one night at that concert,” Farrell said. “The band Donna the Buffalo and their family and friends were the folks who started the original festival. And then the same group of people came down here and started Shakori Hills in North Carolina.”

Jeb Puryear, a founding member of Donna the Buffalo, said North Carolina was a natural home for the festival. “Our band had strong areas and North Carolina was one of those areas, and it actually got started from playing the Good Time Boogie,” he said. “We got invited to it a long time ago, and we played it for a number of years, and there was a good resonance with the audience. And so our band had good traction down here.”

For newcomers, Puryear describes the atmosphere as welcoming and unique. “There’s a lot of really good people here, very accepting and of all walks of life,” he said. “It’s just got a very nice atmosphere. Sometimes when things are nice, they’re not super energetic, and when things are energetic, they’re not super nice. But this is like a very good mix, very nice and very energetic at the same time. And so it’s kind of a rare thing in the world.”

He added, “The one thing that everyone should take away is that Shakori Hills is available to you as a really good time, as an opportunity to find something that you can truly enjoy. I’d encourage people to go ahead and decide to do it.”

Over four days, the festival fills its grounds with live music, workshops, kids’ activities, food vendors and camping under the stars. But for many, it’s the feeling of togetherness that lingers after the last song.

“To be reminded of that and to be in communion with each other, to then go back out into the world and do our day jobs, but feel refreshed with a sense of purpose and reconnection with community and the land,” Friedell said.

The Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance runs through Sunday. More information is available at shakorihillsgrassroots.org