The Inaugural Texas Hill Country Cowboy Gathering: Music & Poetry

It’s no surprise that the Hill Country, being the heart of Texas, is home to dozens of fascinating and creative events every year. This fall, a brand new gathering is joining the ranks of Hill Country festivals – the Texas Hill Country Cowboy Gathering. The gathering promises to be an incredible weekend filled with a celebration of western history, folklore, and art. The lineup includes Waddie Mitchell, Dom Flemons, Cowboy Celtic, and Andy Hedges, and many more. The fun takes place November 8-10 in Fredericksburg.

2018 will be the gathering’s inaugural year, and the first official cowboy gathering to be held in the Hill Country. Andy Hedges, one of the featured performers, offered some thoughts on the event and what sets it apart from other events like it. “To my knowledge, there hasn’t been an event like this in the Hill Country. I think this will be really great because it’s bringing a taste of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering to the Hill Country – in a way, for the first time. Having it all in one place is going to be a significant thing. There’s also an outreach going on to schools, getting kids involved in writing poetry which is really cool.”

Photo: Andy Hedges performing, photography by David Tau

Holding the gathering in Fredericksburg was a significant choice. “This is going to be held inside the Fredericksburg Theater Company’s Theater, which is a really small room that holds 250 people. This will be different than a lot of gatherings, because they’re usually held at a lot of different rooms and scattered all over town. This one is going to be smaller and give people who attend the chance to experience more intimate shows and experience the entire gathering on one stage. You’ll be able to catch every bit of it. The other thing that’s really great is that it’s so close to Austin and San Antonio, places that have really deep history with music and art and culture.”