Bluegrass festivals

9 festivals still to come with Bluegrass on the bill, carrying 71 of the 74 Bluegrass acts we track. Every act has a page: which festivals they play, what time they go on once the festival says, and what they sound like if the name is new to you.

Four or five players crowd a single microphone, stepping forward to solo and back when they are done. The instruments are acoustic and unamplified at the source, so the volume comes from picking speed and stacked harmony singing. Tempos run fast, and the traditional songs stay short, often under four minutes.

These sets land in daylight, mid-afternoon on a main stage or across a side stage all day. The crowd sits on blankets until a fiddle tune speeds up, then a patch of flatfoot dancing opens near the rail. The jam-leaning acts play later and stretch one tune past ten minutes, and picking circles run in the campground until dawn.

Bluegrass festivals in 2026

Every bill still ahead of you with real Bluegrass on it, deepest first. A festival needs at least 2 Bluegrass acts to be here, so one stray booking on a bill about something else does not count.

Who carries Bluegrass this season

All 74 acts we have tagged Bluegrass, sorted six ways. The lists disagree with each other, and the names they disagree about are usually the ones worth hearing.

Booked the most in 2026

The Bluegrass acts who spent 2026 on the road. Go to more than one festival and you have probably seen a few of them already.

  1. 1Leftover Salmon3Colorado's original slamgrass band, three decades of bluegrass picking spliced with Cajun, zydeco and jam-band sprawl.
  2. 2Molly Tuttle3Two-time IBMA guitar player of the year — flatpicking virtuosity fronting new-school bluegrass.
  3. 3Sierra Ferrell3West Virginia's gilded-age songbird — old-time, calypso, and honky-tonk swirled into something timeless, delivered in vintage lace and total command.
  4. 4Sierra Hull3A mandolin virtuoso since childhood, now writing songs that justify the technique — bluegrass pedigree stretched into something personal.
  5. 5The Infamous Stringdusters3Progressive bluegrass played by a band happy to jam a traditional tune well past its natural length — Grammy-winning chops, festival stamina.
  6. 6Alison Krauss & Union Station2The most awarded voice in bluegrass — crystalline, patient, and backed by the tightest band the genre ever produced.
  7. 7Bandits On The Run2Brooklyn trio that met busking in the subway: cello, guitar, accordion and found percussion under three-part harmonies, with an NPR Tiny Desk Contest nod for Love in the Underground.
  8. 8Fireside Collective2Asheville five-piece pushing string-band instrumentation toward progressive folk — tight ensemble playing with a taste for the unexpected turn.
  9. 9Jacob Sharp2Mipso's mandolinist and co-founder, raised in the North Carolina mountains and now out on his own; solo debut Middle Kid was built from the musical friendships he made in Brooklyn.
  10. 10Jim Lauderdale2Grammy-winning North Carolina native and Americana's most prolific lifer — a songwriter's songwriter with dozens of albums and a long bluegrass streak alongside Ralph Stanley.

Most upcoming bookings

Everything still ahead of us, for anyone with festivals left on the calendar.

  1. 1Sierra Hull4A mandolin virtuoso since childhood, now writing songs that justify the technique — bluegrass pedigree stretched into something personal.
  2. 2Leftover Salmon3Colorado's original slamgrass band, three decades of bluegrass picking spliced with Cajun, zydeco and jam-band sprawl.
  3. 3Bandits On The Run2Brooklyn trio that met busking in the subway: cello, guitar, accordion and found percussion under three-part harmonies, with an NPR Tiny Desk Contest nod for Love in the Underground.
  4. 4Jacob Sharp2Mipso's mandolinist and co-founder, raised in the North Carolina mountains and now out on his own; solo debut Middle Kid was built from the musical friendships he made in Brooklyn.
  5. 5Molly Tuttle2Two-time IBMA guitar player of the year — flatpicking virtuosity fronting new-school bluegrass.
  6. 6Sierra Ferrell2West Virginia's gilded-age songbird — old-time, calypso, and honky-tonk swirled into something timeless, delivered in vintage lace and total command.
  7. 7The Infamous Stringdusters2Progressive bluegrass played by a band happy to jam a traditional tune well past its natural length — Grammy-winning chops, festival stamina.

Most headline slots

The names printed in the biggest type, trusted to send everyone home.

  1. 1Alison Krauss & Union Station2The most awarded voice in bluegrass — crystalline, patient, and backed by the tightest band the genre ever produced.

Most places played

Whose year reads like a world tour that happened to be made of festivals.

  1. 1Sierra Hull4A mandolin virtuoso since childhood, now writing songs that justify the technique — bluegrass pedigree stretched into something personal.
  2. 2Leftover Salmon3Colorado's original slamgrass band, three decades of bluegrass picking spliced with Cajun, zydeco and jam-band sprawl.
  3. 3Sierra Ferrell3West Virginia's gilded-age songbird — old-time, calypso, and honky-tonk swirled into something timeless, delivered in vintage lace and total command.
  4. 4The Infamous Stringdusters3Progressive bluegrass played by a band happy to jam a traditional tune well past its natural length — Grammy-winning chops, festival stamina.
  5. 5Alison Krauss & Union Station2The most awarded voice in bluegrass — crystalline, patient, and backed by the tightest band the genre ever produced.
  6. 6Bandits On The Run2Brooklyn trio that met busking in the subway: cello, guitar, accordion and found percussion under three-part harmonies, with an NPR Tiny Desk Contest nod for Love in the Underground.
  7. 7Fireside Collective2Asheville five-piece pushing string-band instrumentation toward progressive folk — tight ensemble playing with a taste for the unexpected turn.
  8. 8Molly Tuttle2Two-time IBMA guitar player of the year — flatpicking virtuosity fronting new-school bluegrass.
  9. 9Mountain Grass Unit2Young Alabama pickers playing traditional bluegrass fast enough to satisfy a jam crowd — flatpicking chops with festival stamina.
  10. 10Old Crow Medicine Show2'Wagon Wheel' originators and old-time revivalists — a string band that plays with punk-rock urgency.

All 74 Bluegrass acts

Sierra HullLeftover SalmonMolly TuttleSierra FerrellThe Infamous StringdustersAlison Krauss & Union StationBandits On The RunFireside CollectiveJacob SharpJim LauderdaleMountain Grass UnitOld Crow Medicine ShowRailroad EarthSam BushSeth Mulder & Midnight RunWeirsWyatt EllisAlice GerrardAllison de Groot & Tatiana HargreavesAsheville Mountain BoysAuthentic UnlimitedBalsam RangeBig RichardCarolina Bluegrass Band (UNC)Carolina CutupsDailey & VincentDella MaeDoyle Lawson & QuicksilverEarl White StringbandFrom China to AppalachiaHank, Pattie & the CurrentHigh FidelityHubby JenkinsJason Carter BandJerron PaxtonJoe Troop's Truth MachineJon Stickley TrioJunior SiskKenny & Amanda SmithKitchen DwellersLarry SparksLiam Purcell & Cane Mill RoadLuke & the Cool HandsMattie & DebbieMichael Cleveland & FriendsMissy Raines & AlleghenyNancy MamlinNewfound RoadNixon, Williams, & GagePeter RowanPhil JamisonRalph Stanley IIRalph Stanley II & The Clinch Mountain BoysRedbudRhonda Vincent & The RageRick Faris BandShawn Lane and the Lane BrothersSteep Canyon RangersSUSTO StringbandThe Blue Ridge GirlsThe BoxcarsThe Cox FamilyThe Five Points RoundersThe GrascalsThe Jerry Douglas BandThe OnliesThe Po' Ramblin' BoysThe Podunk RamblersThe Seldom SceneThe Tan & Sober GentlemenTony Trischka's EarlJam: A Tribute to Earl ScruggsTray Wellington BandViv & RileyWilliamson Branch

Bluegrass festivals: common questions

What festivals have the most Bluegrass in 2026?

Raleigh Wide Open 2026 (30 Bluegrass acts), Blue Highway Fest 2026 (15 Bluegrass acts), World of Bluegrass 2026 (11 Bluegrass acts). We count the acts on each published lineup rather than going by how a festival bills itself, so this is the depth of the actual Bluegrass booking.

Where can I see Bluegrass live in 2026?

9 festivals still to come have Bluegrass on the bill. The next is NC Folk Festival 2026, September 18–20, 2026 at Downtown Greensboro, NC, with 4 Bluegrass acts playing.

Which Bluegrass artists are playing the most festivals in 2026?

Leftover Salmon (3), Molly Tuttle (3), Sierra Ferrell (3), Sierra Hull (3), The Infamous Stringdusters (3). Counted per festival across the whole season, finished bills included.

How many Bluegrass acts are playing festivals in 2026?

74 Bluegrass acts appear on the lineups we track, across 9 festivals still to come. Each one has a page with its dates, stages and set times wherever the festival has published them.

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