Alice Gerrard
Bluegrass Hall of Fame singer, fiddler and guitarist whose 1960s and '70s duo records with Hazel Dickens opened the music to generations of women; she also founded the Old-Time Herald.
Raleigh Wide Open 2026 Lineup
Free, downtown, and all bluegrass, old-time and roots — four outdoor stages plus square dancing on Martin Street.
About Raleigh Wide Open 2026
Raleigh Wide Open takes over downtown Raleigh on October 1-3, 2026, and it is free. The festival is produced by PineCone, the Raleigh nonprofit that has spent decades keeping Piedmont traditional music funded and audible, and the booking reflects that: bluegrass, old-time, gospel quartet singing, son jarocho, son huasteco and Icelandic folk on the same weekend, with nobody asked for a ticket.
Thursday October 1 is a free kickoff at The Corner on N.C. State's Centennial Campus with three of the festival's bands. The real weight lands Friday October 2 and Saturday October 3, when four outdoor stages — City Plaza, Davie Street, PineCone and Martin Street — run in parallel through the afternoon and into the night.
Two things set it apart from a normal roots bill. Martin Street is given over to square dancing both nights, 7:30 to 10:30, with Earl White Stringband and the Five Points Rounders playing and Phil Jamison and Nancy Mamlin calling. And the City of Raleigh Museum hosts artist interviews on Friday and author talks on Saturday, so Jim Lauderdale, the Fairfield Four, Brek and Alice Gerrard can be heard talking as well as playing.
Expect bluegrass, old-time, string band and progressive bluegrass across 42 acts.
The headliners
- The Fairfield Four — A cappella gospel quartet organized in Nashville in the 1920s and still going — Grammy-winning, National Heritage Fellowship-honored, with a bottom end you feel in your chest.
- Jim Lauderdale — Grammy-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.
- The Po' Ramblin' Boys — Grammy-nominated East Tennessee band playing hard-charging traditional bluegrass with the road miles and the IBMA hardware to back up bandleader C.J. Lewandowski's claim that they live what they sing.
- Shinyribs — Kevin Russell's post-Gourds nine-piece — Texas blues, New Orleans funk, Memphis horns and border music, delivered in a technicolor suit with a ukulele.
- The Tan & Sober Gentlemen — North Carolina band running Irish and Appalachian tune traditions through a punk-tempo string band — fiddle, banjo, and a lot of shouting.
Up-and-comers to catch early
- Tray Wellington Band — IBMA Momentum-winning banjoist writing new-acoustic instrumentals with real compositional ambition.
- The Onlies — A young string band who make old-time sound denser and more propulsive than the form usually allows.
- Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road — High-country North Carolina bluegrass that innovates without leaving the tradition behind.
- Redbud — Boone-based young band playing traditional bluegrass with a warm contemporary edge.
- Sonny Miles — The bill's outlier — restless North Carolina R&B built from gospel, soul, funk and hip-hop.
- Joseph Terrell — Mipso co-founder writing plainspoken topical songs in the Guthrie-Seeger line.
- Brek — Icelandic folk group splicing their own tradition into wider currents; three appearances across the weekend.
- The Podunk Ramblers — Columbia, South Carolina five-piece running traditional bluegrass at jamgrass speed.
Other acts worth planning around
- Alice Gerrard — Bluegrass Hall of Fame singer whose duo records with Hazel Dickens changed who got to play this music.
- Tony Trischka's EarlJam: A Tribute to Earl Scruggs — Scruggs solos transcribed from unreleased tapes of Earl Scruggs and John Hartford jamming at home.
- Big Richard — All-women Colorado string quartet with conservatory chops and a bar-band mouth.
- Earl White Stringband — A Black old-time fiddler and founding Green Grass Clogger, playing a set and both nights' square dance.
- Larry & Joe — Venezuelan harp and North Carolina banjo trading repertoire across two continents' folk traditions.
- Hubby Jenkins — Carolina Chocolate Drops alum playing twice on Saturday, on two different stages.
- Caleb Caudle — North Carolina songwriter closing out Friday night on the PineCone Stage.
- Viv & Riley — Old-time backbone, indie-folk melodies, and the weekend's tightest two-part harmony.
The lineup by day
Set times below cover Friday October 2 and Saturday October 3. Several artists play more than once across the weekend; the listed slot is their main stage set.
- Friday, October 2: The Fairfield Four, Jim Lauderdale, The Tan & Sober Gentlemen, Big Richard, From China to Appalachia, Hank, Pattie & the Current + 15 more
- Saturday, October 3: The Po' Ramblin' Boys, Shinyribs, Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves, Earl White Stringband, Joseph Terrell, Tony Trischka's EarlJam: A Tribute to Earl Scruggs + 13 more
Raleigh Wide Open 2026 lineup FAQ
When and where is Raleigh Wide Open 2026?
October 1-3, 2026. Thursday October 1 is a kickoff at The Corner on N.C. State's Centennial Campus; the main festival runs Friday October 2 and Saturday October 3 across downtown Raleigh.
Is Raleigh Wide Open free?
Yes. Admission to the festival and to the Thursday kickoff is free. It is produced for the community by the Raleigh nonprofit PineCone.
What kind of music does Raleigh Wide Open book?
Bluegrass, old-time and Americana form the spine, alongside gospel quartet singing, Venezuelan llanera, son jarocho, son huasteco, Celtic music from Scotland, Icelandic folk and North Carolina R&B.
Where are the stages?
Four outdoor stages downtown — City Plaza, Davie Street, PineCone and Martin Street — plus the City of Raleigh Museum on Fayetteville Street for artist interviews and author talks.
Is there square dancing?
Yes. Martin Street Stage hosts a square dance from 7:30 to 10:30 on both Friday and Saturday, with Phil Jamison and Nancy Mamlin calling.
More festival lineups
Lollapalooza lineup →Hopscotch lineup →The Fest lineup →Rebellion lineup →III Points lineup →Lost Lands lineup →Louder Than Life lineup →All Points East lineup →Aftershock lineup →End of the Road lineup →ARC lineup →Warped Tour Orlando lineup →Austin City Limits lineup →Reading & Leeds lineup →EDC Orlando lineup →Bourbon & Beyond lineup →Riot Fest lineup →Outside Lands lineup →Green Man lineup →HARD Summer lineup →Osheaga lineup →Bass Canyon lineup →Hulaween lineup →Honcho Campout lineup →Portola lineup →Furnace Fest lineup →Shaky Knees lineup →Sick New World Texas lineup →Hinterland lineup →All Things Go DMV lineup →Oceans Calling lineup →Darker Waves lineup →Bumbershoot lineup →Ohana lineup →Sea.Hear.Now lineup →Iron Blossom lineup →All Things Go NYC lineup →
Going to Raleigh Wide Open 2026? Get tickets ↗
▸ Browse the full lineup (42 acts)▾ Hide full lineup
Raleigh Wide Open full lineup
Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves
Banjo-and-fiddle duo who play tradition-deep old-time with an improviser's nerve — tight arrangements that periodically fly off into scratch, drone and noise.
Asheville Mountain Boys
Young western North Carolina band chasing the spirit rather than the surface of first-generation bluegrass — raw, driving and deliberately unsanitized.
Big Richard
All-women Colorado string quartet with conservatory chops and a bar-band mouth — ripping instrumentals, dark humor and songs that don't flinch.
The Blue Ridge Girls
Jamie Collins, Martha Spencer and Brett Morris sing Blue Ridge standards and originals in honeyed three-part harmony, with clogging shoes on.
Brek
Icelandic group splicing their own folk tradition into wider currents, and winners of the folk and world category at the Icelandic Music Awards.
Caleb Caudle
North Carolina songwriter with an unhurried, warm-grained Americana voice; he self-produced Heavy Thrill at the Cash Cabin and put it out on his own label.
Carolina Bluegrass Band (UNC)
The University of North Carolina's audition-only student bluegrass band, playing traditional and contemporary repertoire steeped in local tradition since 2016.
Carolina Cutups
North Carolina Piedmont outfit playing old-time-leaning bluegrass with a rough edge and no interest in polish — porch music that never got sanded down for the stage.
Earl White Stringband
Founding Green Grass Clogger Earl White leads one of old-time's most in-demand dance bands — a Black fiddler carrying forward a tradition Black communities built.
The Fairfield Four
A cappella gospel quartet organized in Nashville in the 1920s and still going — Grammy-winning, National Heritage Fellowship-honored, with a bottom end you feel in your chest.
The Five Points Rounders
Durham-area string band playing the traditional old-time music of the southern Appalachians, tuned for a square dance floor rather than a listening room.
From China to Appalachia
Grammy-winning roots duo Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer with hammered dulcimer player Chao Tian, braiding Chinese classical melody into Appalachian string-band music.
The Gospel Jubilators
North Carolina Piedmont a cappella group singing together since 1972 in the jubilee style that runs back to the 19th century.
Hank, Pattie & the Current
Banjoist Hank Smith and fiddler Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw front a bluegrass band that folds Motown, jazz and classical phrasing into the traditional frame.
Honey Dewdrops
Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish, two voices and two instruments across two decades — clawhammer banjo, mandolin and electric guitar pushing quiet folk somewhere stranger.
Hubby Jenkins
Brooklyn-born multi-instrumentalist and Carolina Chocolate Drops alum who follows the African American thread running through America's traditional music forms — banjo, bones, and guitar in service of the story.
Jacob Sharp
Mipso'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.
Jerron Paxton
South Central Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist who plays prewar blues, rags and string-band music as inheritance rather than revival — his family's Great Migration route, run backwards.
Jim Lauderdale
Grammy-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.
Joe Troop's Truth Machine
Che Apalache founder Joe Troop convenes old-time and bluegrass friends into an openly political string band — the self-described "artivist" with a full backing crew.
Joseph Terrell
Mipso co-founder turned solo songwriter, raised Quaker in the North Carolina Piedmont and writing plainspoken topical songs in the Guthrie–Seeger line for a very online age.
Larry & Joe
Venezuelan harpist Larry Bellorín and North Carolina banjoist Joe Troop trade llanera and Appalachian repertoire across harp, cuatro, banjo, fiddle and maracas.
Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road
High-country North Carolina band led by multi-instrumentalist Liam Purcell, tagged by No Depression as "the future of bluegrass" — innovation without abandoning the form.
Luke & the Cool Hands
Multi-instrumentalist Luke leads a band rooted in bluegrass tradition while writing toward a more personal voice — pickers' chops, songwriter's aims.
Mattie & Debbie
Drummer-singer Sean Trischka and guitarist Stash Wyslouch as a duo — bluegrass picking wired to top-40 hooks and lush harmony on their debut Satan's Junction.
Nancy Mamlin
North Carolina Piedmont dance caller of more than 30 years and a founder of Dare to be Square — everyone dances, no experience required.
Nixon, Williams, & Gage
Flatpicking bluegrass trio out of the North Carolina Piedmont — traditional repertoire played clean and quick.
The Onlies
Young Seattle-rooted string band who grew up playing together, giving old-time a fuller, denser and more propulsive sound than the form usually allows.
Phil Jamison
Dance caller, flatfoot dancer and old-time musician — over forty years a Green Grass Clogger, dance consultant on the film Songcatcher, and author of Hoedowns, Reels, and Frolics.
The Podunk Ramblers
Columbia, South Carolina five-piece splitting the difference between traditional bluegrass and modern jamgrass, at speed — porch tunes with race-car engines.
The Po' Ramblin' Boys
Grammy-nominated East Tennessee band playing hard-charging traditional bluegrass with the road miles and the IBMA hardware to back up bandleader C.J. Lewandowski's claim that they live what they sing.
Redbud
Young Boone, North Carolina band honoring traditional bluegrass with a warm, contemporary edge — mountain-town roots played forward.
Shinyribs
Kevin Russell's post-Gourds nine-piece — Texas blues, New Orleans funk, Memphis horns and border music, delivered in a technicolor suit with a ukulele.
Skyrie
Contemporary Celtic trio from Fife driving Scottish and Irish tune traditions through rock and funk energy, with original songs and soundscapes between.
Son de Carolina
North Carolina collective playing son jarocho — the Veracruz string-and-zapateado tradition — and building community around the fandango, dance floor included.
Sonny Miles
North Carolina R&B singer working an askew blend of gospel, soul, funk, and hip-hop into something restless and hook-heavy — a homegrown standout.
The Tan & Sober Gentlemen
North Carolina band running Irish and Appalachian tune traditions through a punk-tempo string band — fiddle, banjo, and a lot of shouting.
Tony Trischka's EarlJam: A Tribute to Earl Scruggs
Banjo pioneer Tony Trischka built this tribute from tapes of Earl Scruggs and John Hartford jamming at Scruggs's house, transcribing the solos note for note so others could play them.
Tray Wellington Band
IBMA Momentum-winning banjoist leading a band of broad, thoroughly composed new-acoustic instrumentals — cerebral and intentional without ever getting cold.
Trio Huasteco
North Carolina trio playing son huasteco from Hidalgo, Mexico — soaring improvised fiddle, falsetto harmony, and jarana-and-huapanguera drive, tradition kept dancing.
Viv & Riley
Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno write future-leaning indie folk on an old-time backbone, sung in the tightly wound harmony style they both grew up inside.