Organizers of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival were unsure if the event would make a comeback in 2021 until just months before the event. The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in the spring was a promising signal that music lovers would be able to gather together in the summer, but uncertainty lurked. Local and state governments still required masking and social distancing, and the threat of new variants was still very real. But by April 2021, Planet Bluegrass, the company that organizes the beloved event, felt confident enough to throw the festival.