Soon in the Shenandoah Valley, fiddles will warm up, as horses stir in their paddocks, and a large tent fills with families getting ready for Mass. By afternoon, the same grounds will pulse with music from two main stages from a lineup of bluegrass and Americana musicians. Regulars call it “a slice of heaven.”

This Labor Day weekend, Aug. 30-31, marks the 10th-annual Appaloosa Music Festival, a two-day, family-forward celebration of Americana and Celtic music hosted by the Ukrainian American Fedoryka brothers, Daniel, 47, and Alex, 50, of the Celtic-bluegrass band Scythian. 

What began as a musician’s hunch that the region could use a roots festival has grown into one of the area’s most beloved end-of-summer traditions, as 8,000 people flock to Front Royal, Virginia, for an Americana festival with a Catholic soul. 

The brothers’ band had spent years touring, “always leaving town to find festivals to play,” Dan Fedoryka said, even as they were selling out venues like the 9:30 Club in D.C. The brothers sensed both a void and an opportunity: Families and young professionals were hungry for a clean, wholesome festival, and the Virginia region in which the festival is now located was eager for the economic boost. 

In 2015, the brothers launched Appaloosa at Skyline Ranch Resort located just outside Front Royal, nestled close to the Shenandoah National Park and Blue Ridge Mountains; just over an hour drive from D.C. and yet a world away in terms of feel: good music, in a place where kids can dance barefoot, where strangers can become friends and where beauty points beyond itself.

The concept resonated with folks from across the region. 

 

“Music festivals can become a kind of substitute religion for some, replacing Christ, instead of an overflow from Christ,” explained cofounder Dan Fedoryka, who spoke to the Register on behalf of Appaloosa. “While the music isn’t just Christian,” he said, “we want Appaloosa to put music back into its proper context, as a service offered to inspire happiness.” 

“This joy,” added Fedoryka, “is intoxicating and attracts to the faith the non-Catholics also present.” 

Waxing theological, he continued, “Beauty opens the heart. That’s when the Holy Spirit gets in and does his work. It’s not our job to see the work taking place, but to trust that by creating an environment where the Holy Spirit can touch hearts — where an authentic encounter can happen — God will be there.”

The brothers’ band name, Scythian, is a nod to the ancient nomads who lived in the Black Sea region that is now Ukraine. They were considered unconquerable warriors known for adopting the best aspects of each culture they conquered (and also for inventing the horse’s stirrup). For the Fedoryka brothers, Ukrainian Americans playing Irish folk music, the name was an attempt to capture how their national roots were “conquered” by Celtic sound.

Scythian got its start as a house band at Fado Irish Pub in the Washington, D.C., area. The band has since been named D.C.’s “Best Band” twice by Washington City Paper. They have also headlined and closed out for Pope Benedict XVI at World Youth Day Sydney (2008) and performed for President George W. Bush and the Irish delegation at the U.S. Capitol for St. Patrick’s Day 2007. They have also appeared on EWTN.

They are popular on the Irish festival circuit and bluegrass Americana circuits, which gives them an inside scoop on the best talent in both circuits. This is why Appaloosa is, according to the festival’s hashtag, #WhereYouFindTheNextBigThing.

Appaloosa has won awards for best DC festival by the “Parklife DC” blog for the past two years, and its lineup showcases both rising artists and veteran talent across the roots spectrum.

Grammys have followed alumni like Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle, The Steep Canyon Rangers, Watchhouse, Sierra Hull and many more. 

During the festival, Scythian plays for the children attendees in the afternoon with their “Cake for Dinner” project and on the main stage in the evenings, but the weekend sees more than a dozen artists pay tribute to American bluegrass and Celtic folksong.

Appaloosa partner, artist liaison and media manager Brian Lohmann, 52, from Fairfax, Virginia, says the results speak for themselves. 

“What a gift and blessing it’s been to help build Appaloosa Festival over the last 10 years,” Lohmann said. “Irish poet William Butler Yeats would have characterized our musical foretaste of heaven thus: ‘There are no strangers here; only friends you haven’t yet met.’” 

“When we conceived of and launched Appaloosa in 2015, we wrote into our mission the value of the unifying power and common language of beauty through music and the preeminent importance of loving sacrificially through hospitality,” he added.

“With Appaloosa, we take a cue from Pope Benedict XVI, who powerfully said: ‘Art is capable of making visible our need to go beyond what we see, and it reveals our thirst for infinite beauty, for God.’”

 

Festival Highlights

The festival has been designed for all ages. Two main stages run all day. Free hands-on workshops, offered through the Appaloosa Blue Ridge Arts Foundation, introduce children and beginners to instruments. Near the main stages, conveniently located for parents, is the free Kids Zone, sponsored by Lux Foundation Solutions, offering music while the kids enjoy the bouncy houses, games and other fun activities, including face-painting provided by John XXIII Montessori Center. 

Safety is paramount, including a fenced perimeter; the security staff says the festival crowd is the easiest they work with all year.

Vendors are chosen carefully, as tents offering handmade pottery, leather goods, and even hand‑tied rosaries share the grounds with a curated roster of local food trucks, including Plating Grace, run by Father Leo Patalinghug, the famous Baltimore-based priest-chef well-known to EWTN viewers.

The pop-up bars pour Virginia craft beer, local cider and wine from local producers, including a custom Appaloosa-label juicy IPA, called “Dance All Night,” from the award-winning brewery Vibrissa, after it was a hit last year. The Catholic-owned, award-winning Rappahannock Cellars is the official wine of Appaloosa.

Every bar tip for the weekend goes to the Little Sisters of the Poor, a quiet tradition that has become part of the festival’s identity. Last year, $7,500 was raised over the two days of the festival. “When people know that the money is going to help out the sisters, they aren’t afraid to be a bit extravagant in what they tip,” Fedoryka told the Register.

 

The Eucharist at the Center

Nothing, though, competes with the main event. Before the first artist performs on Sunday, the organizers of the festival host 9:30 a.m. Mass in a dedicated tent — complete with a sacred music schola. “The moment of consecration,” Fedoryka said, “is an unimaginably profound moment,” anchoring the festival in the Eucharist. “Here we are at a music festival, and God comes down to be with us. How special is that?”

This year, Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, will be the main celebrant; he celebrates this Mass every other year.

 

“Bishop Burbidge told us how very grateful he is ‘for the work, the sacrifices and the witness to Christian holiness’ offered by the Appaloosa community,” Lohmann explained. “Bishop Burbidge loves what we’ve built, and we’re so happy to have him back again this year, to shepherd us for our 10th-annual Appaloosa.”

Appaloosa’s partners are all Catholic, and many volunteers come from Christendom College, The Catholic University of America and other area schools, yet the founders resist letting the festival be labeled as a niche Catholic subculture. “We work hard to make this a truly mainstream festival,” Fedoryka said. “The Catholic soul shows up in the joy, talent and hospitality on display — basically, the true, the good and the beautiful. … It’s soft evangelization on steroids.”

That approach has real fruits. Couples meet here — including both founders and several of the festival’s managers, who met their wives at Appaloosa — and the weekend has acquired a reputation as an unofficial matchmaking festival. As Fedoryka pointed out, it’s an easy place to see someone’s character. “Who shows up for Mass? Who volunteers? Who treats strangers with hospitality?”

 

Volunteer Spotlight

For many, volunteering is the doorway into the Appaloosa community. Nic Barrows, 37, a cradle Catholic from Woodbine, Maryland, has served all 10 years of the festival’s tenure — the first eight as a volunteer and the last two as camping manager. He oversees more than 200 sites across tent and family areas, car camping, and a 21-and-up VIP section. His work involves drawing the site maps and perimeters, helping campers set up tents, making sure campfires are kept under control and coordinating the volunteers.

“My goal is simple: Make the experience better for everyone,” Barrows told the Register. He knows his work is done when he sees people leaving “with smiles on their faces, somewhat exhausted from dancing, and exuding the joy that music and fellowship bring.” 

The second-oldest of seven children, Barrows met Appaloosa partner Lohmann years ago around a campfire at Lohmann’s church, Holy Transfiguration Melkite Greek Catholic Church in McLean, Virginia, and soon found himself on the team.

Away from the festival, Barrows works as a farrier and blacksmith — an occupation he came to, ironically, not before but after volunteering at a festival named for the Appaloosa, the iconic American spotted-horse breed, and held on a horse ranch. His interest in horses began during stints at two boarding schools with active riding programs and later deepened through an apprenticeship with respected Virginia farrier Mike Hamman.

He added, “The atmosphere at Appaloosa feels like home and family.”

Lohmann appreciates the contributions of Barrows and others: “We couldn’t have built Appaloosa this last decade without the generosity of so very many people: the artists, sponsors, managers, and countless volunteers among them.”

One of Fedoryka’s favorite traditions is the informal gratitude meetings that the team hosts each year during festival cleanup. “The gratitude runs deep here,” he said. 

Lohmann concurred. “We’ve really been touched and overwhelmed with the affection, thoughtfulness and kind comments from people, many of whom struggle with loneliness carried over from the COVID era, who are looking for community and fellowship. They mention how they have loved being a part of what we’re building. The festival isn’t just another musical show; it’s a real meeting place for people to be seen, known and loved. Humbly, we hope this festival’s ethos can be a framework of how to live year-round: with an open heart, valuing the beauty of the other, and providing hospitality toward those we encounter.”

You Are Invited

Appaloosa returns to Skyline Ranch Aug. 30-31, 2025, with Scythian and a slate of festival favorites and first timers. Early‑bird and family packages offer steep discounts. VIP packages include free drinks, hors d’oeuvres, meet-and-greets with the artists, access to the VIP lounge, and more. Beyond a handful of small Catholic sponsors, which fund only about a quarter of the festival’s costs, there is no major underwriter. 

Ticket sales and gifts to the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Appaloosa Blue Ridge Arts Foundation (ABRAF) keep the festival’s workshops and family programming free. 

The partners stress getting tickets early to help with upfront costs and keep the festival rockin.’