How the Telluride Bluegrass Festival became a music icon in 50th year

What they're saying: "It is pretty unlike any other festival experience," says Zach Tucker, the operations director at Lyons-based Planet Bluegrass, which produces the event.

• "It's this beautiful experience from the second you enter the valley to the second you're standing in front of the stage … You're kind of in this ball of energy and in harmony with 10,000 other people who are super psyched to be there."

Flashback: Tickets to the first full-fledged festival in 1974 — back when roads in Telluride were dirt — cost $2 per person or $5 a family, and the organizers weren't sure they would collect enough to pay the bands.

• Organizers trace the festival's roots to a year earlier, in 1973, when it began as the Telluride 4th of July Celebration.
• It went mainstream in the early 1990s when James Taylor made it iconic.
• Now the festival sells out within minutes each year with day passes at $120.

What's new: This year's festival — which runs Thursday to Sunday — is like a family reunion with artists the festival made famous, such as Sam Bush and Emmylou Harris. And those who the festival made famous, like Boulder County's Gregory Alan Isakov, who won the event's troubadour contest.

• In the crowd, a different gathering will take place, one with dedicated fans who attend each year as one family of Festivarians.

Of note: Both are featured this year in a museum on the festival grounds and open to the public that reflects back on its history.

What's next: No one expects the music to die anytime soon. "My goal is to go for 50 more," Tucker says. "Why not?"