On the menu: Dispatch, Masters of Bluegrass and Colorado ribeye

2:15 p.m. June 22, Telluride Town Park – Putting on a music festival for 10,000-plus people requires a host of unsung heroes and many of the folks in the background have separate careers they put on hold for a week to work at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival along with hundreds of volunteers. Backstage at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival is a working environment with tour buses and semis, not the hot party some might imagine. It’s the kind of place where you can stand, as I did Thursday night, in the Port-o-John line and see Steve Martin in a white suit strolling by with his banjo. One of the blessings of being backstage is the hospitality tent where I can sit in the shade and drink  endless iced teas, and where dinner for 500 is served nightly. Last night I sat talking bluegrass music, listening to String Cheese Incident and enjoying a fine $20 feast of Colorado ribeye steaks, polenta, sautéed carrots and squash, an Asian tofu stirfry dish, a salad bar including fresh mozzarella, bread, mushroom soup and strawberries and poundcake with whipped cream.

Coming up: Jerry Douglas.