NESCOPECK, Pa. — The party is on as the Briggs Farm Blues Festival.
The four-day event is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a full lineup of artists on two stages and 50 acres of camping.
While the crowds gather to enjoy the live music at the blues festival, inflationary pressures have some of the vendors wanting to sing the blues themselves.
Longtime vendor Duane Young of Bloomsburg has been crafting custom guitars from cigar boxes for years.
"Just always into guitars. I wanted to start building them and kinda just came about doing it this way. Every box has its own unique sound, but other than that, it's basically a guitar. It just has less strings," Young said.
While customers keep coming back for his one-of-a-kind products, rising material costs means he's had to charge more.
"It's definitely affected me. The cost of wood has went up tremendous, but I'm just doing what I can to keep it going," Young said.
You can almost hear the music in Dane Tilghman's every brush stroke.
He offers his own take on classic photographs of famous musicians.
"All the originals are done in acrylic paint. I've been doing this festival for about 20 years," said Tilghman from Exton.
Tilghman says artwork is often considered to be immune from inflation.
He's raised his prices and seen increased sales, but traveling across the country for festivals, he's still feeling pain at the pump.
"The gas prices have definitely hampered my movements. It definitely cuts into the bottom line, but I pass it on to my friendly customer," he said.
Scranton resident Bob King started making leather wallets, bracelets, and belts in the early 1970s.
Higher prices for raw leather means every item at his table now costs a dollar more.
"We make all of these. These are all done by hand. Each little stamp done by hand, it's not done with a machine. I buy a lot of my raw materials at the beginning of the year all at once, and then I make it as I go," King said.
While he's no longer selling full-time and now considers this his hobby, the atmosphere, and the music keep him coming back.
"You meet a lot of interesting people, let me tell you," King added.
Briggs Farm Blues Festival plays on through Sunday.
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