California Roots Music & Arts Festival is held twice a year in May and October inside California and now South Carolina. The partners behind Cali-Roots with Jeff Monser and Dan Sheehan have expanded their brand to add a 3rd major festival to their yearly rotation with this years 2 day Dry Diggings Festival!
The emphasis of this Festival, according to it’s press release, will be Reggae Music, Beer & Camping with more than 15 bands over two days held on September 25th and 26th, 2015. This will be one week from their Carolina Sessions which will be held on October 3rd, 2015 on the opposite coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
What started out as a side project festival for Jeff Monser later turned into the entire backing of his Cali-Roots staff and family. During the early stages of pursuing the Dry Diggings festival is when Dan Sheehan and his wife Amy were expecting their first child and with ‘baby on the brain’ as Jeff puts it, it took some time following a much needed vacation for Dan to come around and join Jeff on what would become a new expansion and adventure for the Cali-Roots brand.
[Related: Interview: California Roots Music & Arts Festival]
“Originally, it was only going to be me this first year and I was going to MAKE Dan do it with me next year,” Jeff Monser shares while laughing. “With that being said, I’m glad Dan took a vacation and came back wanting to do this show. This is going to be a lot of work with it being the week before Carolina Sessions. You talked about two festivals and now we’ve added a 3rd one into that. It’s actually a whole different ball game now.”
The Location:
The Dry Diggings festival will be held at the 6,000 capacity El Dorado County Fairgrounds in the scenic Sierra Nevada mountain range foothills in the historic gold mining country in Placerville, California. It’s located in between Sacramento and Tahoe about 40miles outside of Sacramento, CA.
The event will feature 30 different vendors and a beer garden. Four premier breweries; Sierra Nevada Brewing, Lagunitas Brewing, Altamont and Firestone Walker will all feature a wide variety of beers and I’m sure fans will have access to Cali-Roots own beer, Hoppy Roots. 
Attendees have the option of camping on site by purchasing the Full Festival Experience or Full Festival Experience VIP passes. These include a 2 day festival and camping pass. Festival attendees have the option to park and attend the festival without camping as well.
What makes the location interesting is that it’s only 3 hours from Monterey, CA where California Roots has made its branding with their festivals being a boom for the area over the last 5 years. Because the location in Monterey isn’t set up for camping, we asked Jeff Monser if this was being eyed as a location to replace Monterey.
“NO, Dry Diggings is not to replace Monterey AT ALL! This is just one of those things that California is a great spot to do these shows! Let’s be honest, its within 6 months of each other and our shows, I don’t think will affect each other, it’ll help each other if anything.”
Dan Sheehan adds: “The idea of going to a new market to do a new show that included camping was the driving force for us, as we don’t have camping on site at Monterey. Doing a camping festival for both Jeff and I was something that was desirable and to include all the bands that we love and include beer, it was a win-win. The foothills are a special place and Placerville is a really cool town with a strong history. The name of the event is a play on the gold rush history of the town.”
Dry Diggings was one of the original names of the town during the gold rush era which gave birth to the festival name to pay homage to the locations history. The setting at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds with the backdrop of the Sierra Nevada mountains will be enhanced with special lighting and art murals throughout to create a festive atmosphere.
The Line Up:
Here is the confirmed line-up thus far. More bands will be announced in August and when that happens, we’ll update this feature with who those bands are. Favorite this page and check back for more details as they’re made available to us.
Ticket Information:
Right now and before single day passes are made available, your cost options range from $35.00 for 2-day Onsite Camping Parking to as much as $220 Advance Full Festival Experience-VIP. There are multiple options that for camping and non-camping attendees. RV Parking is available and yes, fees will accompany your ticket purchase.
VIP Access will get you inside VIP Lounges with special drinks & prices, private restrooms, Free cup to beer & wine tasting zone, Free T-shirt & swag, shaded side-stage viewing, early entry, special access to meet and greets and food vendors.
You can purchase your tickets for Dry Diggings by clicking HERE!
Related Links:
Dry Diggings Website
Dry Diggings Facebook
Dry Diggings Twitter
Article By: Mike Patti