RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The IBMA World of Bluegrass Live music festival kicks off this week in Downtown Raleigh.

On Monday, crews spent the day setting up for the event. 

Every year the event draws thousands of people to celebrate the music genre through a conference, awards show and the highly anticipated IBMA Bluegrass Live music festival.

“It’s one of the highly anticipated events through the year in the music festival genre. It’s one of the pillars of the city along with events like Dreamville and Hopscotch,” said Loren Gold, Executive Vice President of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

He told CBS 17 they don’t yet know how many people are expected to attend this year, but they’re hoping to return to pre-pandemic levels.

In 2019 they saw over a hundred thousand people in attendance. Gold hopes to see the same this year.

“Weather forecast is looking great for the weekend so we anticipate the crowd to come back and subsequently the economic impact to come back. 2019 numbers were somewhere around $16 million in direct economic impact. That could be a target, we’re hoping to get there,” said Gold. 

You can find more information the concert lineup and ticket prices here.