 From 1934 to 1949, thanks to a benefactor's gift of land and a windowless log cabin, the festival took place at a site eighteen miles south of Ashland.Beginning in 1950, the festival was held in Thomas' yard in Ashland, moving to a state park in Prestonsburg in 1964, and to the Carter Caves State Park in 1966.The festival followed an unwavering script for many years, intended to show "authentic sequences in America's musical history" (Thomas 1940, p. 262).