Lu Mil Vineyard hosts fourth-annual May Day Jamboree

ELIZABETHTOWN — The Lu Mil Vineyard May Day Jamboree was held Saturday to a large amount of festival goers in spite of the warnings of the rain. Although there were tents and umbrellas, a light sprinkling midafternoon was all that saturated the vineyards.

“Typically, we have around 1,000 people come,” Kayla Bridgers, May Day Jamboree organizer said. “I actually did not look at the weather until Thursday,” Bridgers said. “When I got there, I thought we’d be good, but then we started getting windy, so I started prayin’. We got a pretty good breeze and it turned out to be pretty good day.”

It is a festival for families and community to come together. In a time when the nation is in a panic over protests, infighting and politics, it was a safe place to come and simply fellowship with those around you who appreciated good music, activities for the kids which included gem mining, slushies, ice cream and bouncy houses and of course, for the adults, the thing that Lu Mil is best known for, it’s Muscadine wine.

It was a festival that had a little bit of everything including free fishing in the designated fishing area.

It is a free event and although there are no pets or golf carts allowed that was about the only boundaries set for the traditional first Saturday in May. People were encouraged to bring their tents, their coolers and picnic lunches or choose between 11 different food trucks that had everything from barbecue to chicken and waffles.

“This is our fourth year,” she said. “We started it back when COVID was in full swing, so we couldn’t do anything inside. Daryl Davis or as everybody calls him, ‘Double-D’ is one of our friends and he would have something like this in his backyard. He got to talking with Ron, (Taylor) one of the owners and Ron said, ‘well, why don’t you come and play at our amphitheater,’ and we’ll get some local bands to come.”

“For the first year, we had around seven people,” Bridgers said. “By the next year it grew and then people started contacting me to come out and set up food trucks and things like that. Daryl actually still helps by getting onstage and introducing the bands.”

“Well, before we did the backyard thing, we actually started in my living room,” Davis said. “I was having to move it outside due to COVID about four years ago and Ron (Taylor) heard about it on Facebook and we got together. He lined up the food and I lined up the music we’ve been doing it here ever since.”

Davis said that he had friends that he liked to play and sing with and it was similar to a homegrown country jam session.

“We just got together and had a big time,” he said. “I think the threat of rain kept a lot of people away, but we will play rain or shine. I missed Chick-Fil-A though… wish they were here. Ron’s been very generous and Denise (Bridgers) and Kayla have been very accommodating and very good to us with free fishing in the pond, free wine tasting, free admission.”

The bands that were lined up for this year’s event included “Loose Floor Boards” which is a local favorite from Dublin, North Carolina, that came and warmed up the stage and according to Bridgers, they have played at every May Day Jamboree. They do everything from rock to country to gospel.

Second up for the day was Massive Grass from Wilmington, North Carolina, and they are primarily an acoustic blue grass band. When they ripped into the “Brother Where Art Thou” song “Man of Constant Sorrow,” the crowd became electrified. One of their videos can be heard that was posted on the Bladen County Facebook page Saturday.

The main band for the night was crowd favorite, Autumn Tyde which thrilled the audience with a variety of music from classic rock to top hits to a little bit of country. They had the festival on their feet.

“I have 11 food trucks here today,” Bridgers said. “Barbecue, chicken and waffles, hibachi, cheesesteaks, collard sandwiches, pizza, slushies, ice cream, lemonade, coffee to just name a few of the food and drinks we have here. The biggest thing I have to deal with is how many food trucks I’m going to need each year. Also, I used to question whether I should be gearing it more toward the kids or is it going to be toward the adults? And then after I’ve gotten years of experience in doing this I’ve finally realized; you need to have something for everybody.”

“That’s the equation,” she said. “What do we have for the kids and what do we have for the adults, but of course for the adults, we do have the wine.”

As for the setup time, Bridgers said that she started planning and signing up vendors in February. It was also at that time when she finalizes her plan and then begins to work it through to the Jamboree.

“With the food vendors, you have to have everything turned into the health department,” she said. “So, I have to work with the health department in this process too. It takes a few months, but the longer I do it, the easier it becomes to me. And then of course, you have to get everything out on social media.”

With so many food trucks, there were not so many long lines to eat. Also, some people brought their own food.

“As for some of the fun things for the kids to do, we brought in T&A Inflatables from the Laurinburg area,” she said. “They come in and set up the Grape Festival that we have in October and this is the second time that they’ve set up at the May Day. They stay on our schedule and work with us and our events.”

Bridgers said, looking forward that she and her mother, Denise have some ideas.

“As time goes on, we’d like to do some indoor concerts with maybe these and even some larger bands,” she said. “But we like to keep stuff free for the community and for people to bring their families to. I’m hoping in the future we can have more events like this. It will keep giving the people in Bladen County something free and fun to do.”

Other than the NC Grape Festival in October, Lu Mil hosts their festival of lights show beginning the day after Thanksgiving and running through Dec. 23. There are also open bus tours, photos with Santa, a country buffet, a candy shop and of course – the traditional special holiday wine tastings.

“You can actually travel around the vineyard in your vehicle and the lights and music are synchronized,” Bridgers said. “It’s huge. We actually block off all of our vineyards and we don’t even rent to anyone during the holidays because our festival is so big.”

Lu Mil Vineyard known as “Bladen County’s best kept secret is located at 438 Suggs-Taylor Rd, Elizabethtown, North Carolina. For information about upcoming events or cabin rentals, please call (910) 866-5819.