Make sure to get MerleFest on your radar in 2026, set to happen April 23-26 in Wilkesboro, NC with a stellar lineup that was just announced in full this week. Alison Krauss and Union Station, Old Crow Medicine Show, Charles Wesley Godwin, and Blackberry Smoke are the top line names. But that’s just where this stacked lineup starts.
Molly Tuttle, Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, The Infamous Strringdusters, and so many more from the bluegrass realm are scheduled to appear. So are legendary names like Jerry Douglas, Jim Lauderdale, Dom Flemons, and Reverend Peyton.
Up-and-coming names to make sure you catch include The Castellows, The Creekers, AJ Lee and Blue Summit, Trey Hensley, The Wilder Blue, Melissa Carper, Buffalo Traffic Jam, and so on and so forth, along with scores of local and regional acts from North Carolina worth checking out on the 12 total stages throughout the festival grounds.
Though some mistakenly think MerleFest is named for Merle Haggard, it’s actually named in memory of guitarist Eddy Merle Watson, who was the son of Doc Watson. Founded in 1988, the fest continues to grow each year Though traditional country and bluegrass is what MerleFest was built on and still represents for the most part, it has expanded over the years to also incorporate Americana, blues, and roots rock.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit Merlefest.org.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source savingcountrymusic.com ’
