Merlefest 2026

Time	Caboose	Watson Stage	Cabin Stage	Creekside Stage	Little Pickers Stage	B Townes Americana Stage	Traditional Stage	Pickin' Place	Dance Stage	Austin Stage at Mayes Pit (Cohn Auditorium)	Plaza Stage	Hillside Stage	Walker Center Stage	Autograph Tent
10:00 AM
10:15 AM
10:30 AM
10:45 AM
11:00 AM			Todd Albright 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM ( 30m ) Todd Albright Russ Jordan	Jim Lauderdale & The Game Changers 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM ( 45m ) Jim Lauderdale Lucy Allen	InterACTive Theater of JEF 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM ( 30m ) The InterACTive Theater of Jef Damon Coe		Songs of Doc Watson with Mitch Greenhill 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM ( 45m ) Mitch Greenhill & Mitch's Kitchen Jack Lawrence Josh Goforth Laura Boosinger	Jammin' at the Pickin' Place 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM ( 11h )		Banjo Workshop with Pete Wernick, Jens Kruger, Greg Deering 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM ( 45m ) Pete Wernick Kruger Brothers Carol Rifkin	Open Mic hosted by The Local Boys 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM ( 5h ) The Local Boys	Fancy Hagood 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM ( 45m ) Fancy Hagood Richard Beard
11:15 AM
11:30 AM		Full Cord 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM ( 45m ) Full Cord Russ Jordan				Big Richard 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM ( 45m ) Big Richard Martin Anderson							East Nash Grass 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM ( 45m ) East Nash Grass Larry Nixon
11:45 AM									School Day Dance with Scythian 11:45 AM - 12:30 PM ( 45m ) Scythian Gary Miller
12:00 PM
12:15 PM			Rev. Robert Jones 12:15 PM - 12:45 PM ( 30m ) Rev. Robert Jones Russ Jordan	Mark Bumgarner 12:15 PM - 1:00 PM ( 45m ) Mark Bumgarner Lucy Allen	Pickin' Thistles 12:15 PM - 12:45 PM ( 30m ) Pickin' Thistles Damon Coe					Doc & Merle Watson Performing Arts Showcase 12:15 PM - 2:00 PM ( 1h 45m ) Joe Smothers Jack Lawrence 12:20 PM - 12:35 PM ( 15m ) Jack Lawrence		Kruger Brothers 12:15 PM - 1:00 PM ( 45m ) Kruger Brothers Richard Beard
12:30 PM							Wayne Henderson & Friends 12:30 PM - 1:15 PM ( 45m ) Wayne Henderson Laura Boosinger			Carol Rifkin 12:40 PM - 12:55 PM ( 15m ) Carol Mallett Rifkin				Jim Lauderdale 12:30 PM - 1:00 PM ( 30m ) Jim Lauderdale
12:45 PM		Tony Trischka's EarlJam – Featuring Michael Daves 12:45 PM - 1:30 PM ( 45m ) Tony Trischka's EarlJam – Featuring Michael Daves Russ Jordan				Six-String Soldiers 12:45 PM - 1:30 PM ( 45m ) Six-String Soldiers Martin Anderson							Theo Lawrence 12:45 PM - 1:30 PM ( 45m ) Theo Lawrence Larry Nixon
1:00 PM										T. Michael Coleman 1:00 PM - 1:15 PM ( 15m ) T. Michael Coleman
1:15 PM									Mattie Schell 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM ( 45m ) Mattie Schell Gary Miller	Joe Smothers 1:20 PM - 1:35 PM ( 15m ) Joe Smothers
1:30 PM			Fancy Hagood 1:30 PM - 2:00 PM ( 30m ) Fancy Hagood Russ Jordan	Pete Wernick's FLEXIGRASS Jam 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM ( 1h ) Pete Wernick The Barefoot Movement Damn Tall Buildings East Nash Grass Lucy Allen	Ella Hennessee 1:30 PM - 2:00 PM ( 30m ) Ella Hennessee Damon Coe					Presley Barker 1:40 PM - 2:00 PM ( 20m ) Presley Barker		William Prince 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM ( 45m ) William Prince Richard Beard
1:45 PM
2:00 PM		Kruger Brothers 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM ( 45m ) Kruger Brothers Russ Jordan				Sweet Megg 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM ( 45m ) Sweet Megg Martin Anderson	Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Chao Tian From China To Appalachia 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM ( 45m ) Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Chao Tian: From China To Appalachia Laura Boosinger						Full Cord 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM ( 45m ) Full Cord Jeff Fissel
2:15 PM														Theo Lawrence 2:15 PM - 2:45 PM ( 30m ) Theo Lawrence
2:30 PM										Thumbpicking Workshop Larry Nixon, Mike Palmer, Clay Lunsford, Josh Goforth, Wayne Henderson & Billy Gee 2:30 PM - 3:15 PM ( 45m ) Larry Nixon Banknotes Wayne Henderson Josh Goforth
2:45 PM			The Barefoot Movement 2:45 PM - 3:15 PM ( 30m ) The Barefoot Movement Cindy Baucom		The Wilder Flower 2:45 PM - 3:15 PM ( 30m ) The Wilder Flower Damon Coe				Damn Tall Buildings 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM ( 45m ) Damn Tall Buildings Gary Miller			Big Richard 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM ( 45m ) Big Richard John Roten
3:00 PM				Woody Platt & The Bluegrass Gentlemen 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM ( 45m ) Woody Platt and the Bluegrass Gentlemen Joe Kendrick										Fancy Hagood 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM ( 30m ) Fancy Hagood Mattie Schell 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM ( 30m )
3:15 PM		Scythian 3:15 PM - 4:00 PM ( 45m ) Scythian Cindy Baucom			Meet & Greet with Flattop 3:15 PM - 3:30 PM ( 15m ) Flattop Carol Rifkin	The Waybacks 3:15 PM - 4:00 PM ( 45m ) The Waybacks Sherry Boyd							Docabilly Blues Blowout with Mitch Greenhill & Friends 3:15 PM - 4:00 PM ( 45m ) Mitch Greenhill & Mitch's Kitchen T. Michael Coleman Jeff Little Trio Jim Lauderdale Rev. Robert Jones Joe Smothers More...
3:30 PM					The InterACTive Theater of JEF 3:30 PM - 4:00 PM ( 30m ) The InterACTive Theater of Jef Carol Rifkin		Laura Boosinger & Josh Goforth 3:30 PM - 4:15 PM ( 45m ) Laura Boosinger Josh Goforth Dale Morris
3:45 PM										Anatomy of a Guitar with Wayne Henderson 3:45 PM - 4:30 PM ( 45m ) Wayne Henderson Larry Nixon
4:00 PM		Dinner Break 4:00 PM - 4:45 PM ( 45m )	Dinner Break 4:00 PM - 4:45 PM ( 45m )									Donna the Buffalo 4:00 PM - 4:45 PM ( 45m ) Donna the Buffalo John Roten		Damn Tall Buildings 4:00 PM - 4:30 PM ( 30m ) Damn Tall Buildings
4:15 PM				The Barefoot Movement 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM ( 45m ) The Barefoot Movement Joe Kendrick					Theo Lawrence 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM ( 45m ) Theo Lawrence WSMW 98.7 FM Simon
4:30 PM	Nature Walk with Ken Crouse 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM ( 1h ) Ken Crouse				Presley Barker 4:30 PM - 5:00 PM ( 30m ) Presley Barker Carol Rifkin	The Cleverlys 4:30 PM - 5:15 PM ( 45m ) The Cleverlys Sherry Boyd				Acoustic Kids with Andy May 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM ( 1h 30m ) Andy May			Peter Rowan & The Walls of Time Band 4:30 PM - 5:15 PM ( 45m ) Peter Rowan & The Walls of Time Band Jeff Fissel
4:45 PM			Tami Neilson 4:45 PM - 5:30 PM ( 45m ) Tami Neilson Cindy Baucom
5:00 PM							East Nash Grass 5:00 PM - 5:45 PM ( 45m ) East Nash Grass Dale Morris							Full Cord 5:00 PM - 5:30 PM ( 30m ) Full Cord
5:15 PM												Sunset Sessions with Tony Trischka's EarlJam – Featuring Michael Daves 5:15 PM - 6:15 PM ( 1h ) Tony Trischka's EarlJam – Featuring Michael Daves John Roten
5:30 PM		The War And Treaty 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM ( 1h ) The War And Treaty Cindy Baucom		Kruger Brothers 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM ( 1h ) Kruger Brothers Joe Kendrick
5:45 PM						Mattie Schell 5:45 PM - 6:30 PM ( 45m ) Mattie Schell Sherry Boyd
6:00 PM														The Cleverlys 6:00 PM - 6:30 PM ( 30m ) The Cleverlys
6:15 PM							Damn Tall Buildings 6:15 PM - 7:00 PM ( 45m ) Damn Tall Buildings Dale Morris
6:30 PM			William Prince 6:30 PM - 7:15 PM ( 45m ) William Prince Martin Anderson
6:45 PM
7:00 PM														Tony Trischka 7:00 PM - 7:30 PM ( 30m ) Tony Trischka's EarlJam – Featuring Michael Daves
7:15 PM		I'm With Her 7:15 PM - 8:15 PM ( 1h ) I'm With Her Martin Anderson							Tami Neilson 7:15 PM - 8:15 PM ( 1h ) Tami Neilson WSMW 98.7 FM Simon
7:30 PM
7:45 PM
8:00 PM														East Nash Grass 8:00 PM - 8:30 PM ( 30m ) East Nash Grass
8:15 PM			Stephen Wilson Jr. 8:15 PM - 9:00 PM ( 45m ) Stephen Wilson Jr. Martin Anderson
8:30 PM
8:45 PM
9:00 PM		Bonnie Raitt 9:00 PM - 10:30 PM ( 1h 30m ) Bonnie Raitt Martin Anderson
9:15 PM
9:30 PM
9:45 PM
10:00 PM									Friday Night Dance with The Cleverlys 10:00 PM - 11:30 PM ( 1h 30m ) The Cleverlys WSMW 98.7 FM Simon
10:15 PM
10:30 PM
10:45 PM
11:00 PM													Late Night Jam with Sam Bush & Friends 11:00 PM - 12:30 AM ( 1h 30m ) Sam Bush Jack Lawrence Joe Smothers Peter Rowan & The Walls of Time Band T. Michael Coleman Tony Trischka's EarlJam – Featuring Michael Daves More...
11:15 PM
11:30 PM
11:45 PM
12:00 AM
12:15 AM
12:30 AM
12:45 AM

Festival Calendar