Songfest starts Wednesday, tickets still available
The Sandy Lee Watkins Songwriters Festival begins Wednesday, July 29. In its 16 years, it has become another of Henderson’s summer signature events. As of this writing, tickets are still available. Check the website for ticket purchases:
The Hendersonian caught up with the festival’s chair this year, Lindsay Forrester, who graciously answered our emailed questions about the festival.
How many years has the festival been around?
The 2026 Sandy Lee Watkins Songwriters Festival marks our 16th annual festival. The event began in 2010 as a way to celebrate the art of songwriting while honoring the legacy of former Henderson County Judge-Executive Sandy Lee Watkins, who loved both music and promoting Henderson. Since then, the festival has grown into one of the premier songwriter festivals in the region, bringing Nashville’s hit songwriters to Downtown Henderson each summer.
Tell me about the festival’s grant program.
Proceeds raised through Songfest go back into the community through our nonprofit organization, Henderson Songfest, Inc.
The amount awarded varies each year based on festival proceeds, so there isn’t a set dollar amount. Since the festival began, we’ve awarded well over $150,000 to local nonprofits and community projects.
Applications are accepted annually through the Songfest website, typically with an April 1 deadline for the following year’s grants. Eligible organizations must be Henderson County nonprofits or organizations, with preference given to projects involving the arts, arts education, education and veterans, although other nonprofits are also considered. Our social media and website keep nonprofits and organizations aware of when applications open and will close each year, we encourage organizations to look at both. But it’s typically in the February-April time frame.
This year, there seems to be a lot of musicians performing. Are there more this year than in previous years?
This year’s festival features one of our largest lineups ever, with over 30 songwriters performing across four days. Many that are new to our festival, along with four local talented songwriters that will be joining us on stage for Wednesday’s opening show which is immediately followed by four hit songwriters. The opening show is essentially one big show, to start the week off with a bang!
We’ve continued to grow because of tremendous community support from sponsors, volunteers, host families and our venues. Adding daytime songwriter rounds at Homer’s BBQ (The Hangout), while continuing our evening performances at Rookies and The Elks, has allowed us to showcase more writers while still maintaining the intimate songwriter-round experience that makes the Songfest unique.
How many spectators can fit for an individual performance?
That depends on the venue. Because Songfest is intentionally designed as an intimate experience, most songwriter rounds seat roughly 100 to 250 people, depending on the location. Rather than large concerts, audiences are close enough to interact with the writers, hear the stories behind the songs and experience the performances the way they were originally written.
Like every other Henderson festival, the musicians rave about the hospitality here. What are some of the ways those connected to the festival make the musicians feel welcome? What do the songwriters say about Henderson?
Hospitality is one of the things we’re most proud of.
Many of our songwriters stay with local host families who have become lifelong friends. Volunteers greet them downtown, provide transportation, meals, welcome bags and anything else they need throughout the weekend. Many businesses, restaurants and community members go out of their way to make every songwriter feel at home.
A special thank you goes out to Linda and Roger Meuth, as they open up their home through the week every year for “home style” meals. A lot of our songwriters are on the road a lot and miss home cooked meals, so we make it a priority to give them an experience, as close as possible, to what meals at home in Kentucky feel and taste like. We also partner with Bally’s Evansville, Audubon State Park, and L&N Bed & Breakfast – every songwriter has a specific place they prefer to stay at when they are in town, so we are very fortunate to have great ties to housing options outside of host families to accommodate and make them feel that much more “at home” during their stay with us.
What we hear year after year is that Henderson doesn’t treat them like celebrities, it treats them like family. Don Sampson, who has been coming for years, has often said Songfest is his favorite songwriter festival because of the people. In a past Hendersonian interview, he said he and his wife begin planning next year’s trip home to Henderson before they’ve even left town.
How is Henderson’s songwriter festival unique?
Many songwriter festivals focus on performances. Sandy Lee Songfest focuses on relationships.
The venues are small enough that audience members can ask questions, request songs they’ve heard in previous years and have genuine conversations with the writers at our Songwriter Workshop. Many attendees return every year and develop friendships with the songwriters. Our festival is also unique because we operate as a nonprofit. Every ticket sold helps fund grants that support organizations serving Henderson County, meaning visitors are enjoying world-class entertainment while also investing back into the community.
It’s a week where nationally recognized hit songwriters become part of the Henderson family. I always relate our festival to bringing The Listening Room and The Bluebird (famous Nashville hot spots for Songwriters) to the streets of Henderson. You get the “big city” feel and the “small town” charm all in one.
For those who haven’t heard the story, can you tell again the origins of the festival?
The Sandy Lee Watkins Songwriters Festival began with one man’s passion for music, songwriters, and his hometown.
Sandy Lee Watkins loved attending songwriter festivals with friends and believed Henderson should have one of its own. His vision was simple: bring the talented men and women behind the hit songs to Henderson so others could experience the music and the stories the same way he had.
In the spring of 2010, with the help of a sponsor, along with Mac Neel and Kerry Kurt Phillips, the first unofficial songwriter event was held at the Henderson Fine Arts Center. The overwhelming response inspired the formation of Henderson Songfest, Inc. in July 2010.
Just one month later, Sandy passed away before he could see the organization’s first official festival, planned for 2011.
Determined to continue his vision, the founders named the event the Sandy Lee Watkins Songwriters Festival in his honor. What started as Sandy’s dream has grown into a nationally recognized four-day festival that brings Nashville’s hit songwriters to Henderson each summer while giving back to Henderson County nonprofits and community organizations.
Today, many volunteers, board members, committee members, sponsors, businesses, restaurants and venues, all work together to make the festival possible. We welcome visitors traveling to Henderson each year to experience the music, hear the stories behind the songs, and enjoy the welcoming community that Sandy loved so much.
For more information about the performers, go to sandyleesongfest.com/events-news/
To purchase tickets, go to Sandy Lee Watkins Songwriters Festival
