The long-running fest’s new home is Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley, California.
By Andy Kahn Oct 1, 2025 • 9:15 am PDT
After 25 years at Plumas County Fairgrounds in Quincy, California, High Sierra Music Festival will be held in a new location in 2026. The long-running event will make its debut at Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley, California on July 2-5, 2026.
Nevada County Fairgrounds is an approximate 2.5 hour drive from the Bay Area, 90 minutes from Reno and one hour from Sacramento. The region is home to over 1,000 hotel rooms, along with a variety RV park locations, plus Airbnb and other rental opportunities.
The new High Sierra Music Festival location will continue to offer multiple outdoor stages, late night High Sierra Music Hall shows, Artist Playshops, Troubadour Sessions, daily parades, the Family Village, Rockin’ Nannies, yoga and outdoor movement playshops, Silent Disco, High Sierra Swirl and, of course, legendary Sunrise Kickball.
HSMF 2026 general admission passes are on sale now. FestivALL VIP Experience Packages and FestivALL RV and Parking Packages are also available for purchase. New for HSMF will be FestivALL VIP Hotel Packages with Shuttle Service, FestivALL VIP Grass Valley Resort RV Family Packages and VIP Viewing Areas at All Major Stages.
The Plumas Sun talked to HSMF producer Dave Margulies after he shared a letter this week announcing the decision to relocate from Plumas County Fairgrounds. Margulies cited declining ticket sales that started during the pandemic and never recovered. Attempts to restructure last year’s festival proved unsuccessful.
“It’s been four losing years in a row,” Margulies said. “We’ve just run out of rope.”
High Sierra debuted on July 4, 1991, when the music festival was first held in Leland Meadows, California. Outside of pandemic years, HSMF has been held over July 4th Weekend, or close to it, ever since. In 1998, HSMF relocated to Plumas County Fairgrounds and (with the exception of 1999) the site hosted each High Sierra through the 2025 event.
“While Quincy will always hold a special place in our history and our hearts,” Margulies wrote in his announcement letter, “the move to Grass Valley offers us a path forward: more hotel rooms for our attendees, greater accessibility for artists and crews, closer proximity to the Bay Area, and the sustainability to keep High Sierra thriving for decades to come.”
Read Margulies’ letter (via The Plumas Sun):
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