Merlefest 2026

Time	Caboose	Window World Hall	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		BGS Session - Willie Watson 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM ( 1h 15m ) Willie Watson
11:00 AM				Eleanor Ellis 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM ( 30m ) Eleanor Ellis Russ Jordan	Jim Lauderdale 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM ( 45m ) Jim Lauderdale Lucy Allen	The 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 Laura Boosinger	Jammin' at the Pickin' Place 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM ( 11h )		Banjo Workshop with Pete Wernick, Jens Kruger 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	Shelby Means 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM ( 45m ) Shelby Means Richard Beard
11:15 AM
11:30 AM			Liam St. John 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM ( 45m ) Liam St. John Russ Jordan				Amelia Day 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM ( 45m ) Amelia Day Martin Anderson							Seth Mulder & Midnight Run 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM ( 45m ) Seth Mulder & Midnight Run 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		BGS Session - Molly Tuttle 12:15 PM - 1:30 PM ( 1h 15m ) Molly Tuttle		Corey Harris 12:15 PM - 12:45 PM ( 30m ) Corey Harris Russ Jordan	Compton & Newberry 12:15 PM - 1:00 PM ( 45m ) Compton and Newberry Lucy Allen Joe Newberry	Carbon Harry 12:15 PM - 12:45 PM ( 30m ) Carbon Harry 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			West Texas Exiles 12:45 PM - 1:30 PM ( 45m ) West Texas Exiles Russ Jordan				Broken Compass Bluegrass 12:45 PM - 1:30 PM ( 45m ) Broken Compass Bluegrass Martin Anderson							Melissa Carper 12:45 PM - 1:30 PM ( 45m ) Melissa Carper Larry Nixon
1:00 PM		Jef Lambdin - MerleFest x App State Oral History Interview 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ( 1h ) The InterACTive Theater of Jef									T. Michael Coleman 1:00 PM - 1:15 PM ( 15m ) T. Michael Coleman
1:15 PM										Fireside Collective 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM ( 45m ) Fireside Collective Gary Miller	Joe Smothers 1:20 PM - 1:35 PM ( 15m ) Joe Smothers
1:30 PM				Nick Wade 1:30 PM - 2:00 PM ( 30m ) Nick Wade Russ Jordan	Pete Wernick's FLEXIGRASS Jam 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM ( 1h ) Pete Wernick Jim Lauderdale Seth Mulder & Midnight Run Shelby Means Lucy Allen Willie Watson More...	Reid West 1:30 PM - 2:00 PM ( 30m ) Reid West Damon Coe					Presley Barker 1:40 PM - 2:00 PM ( 20m ) Presley Barker		Amelia Day 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM ( 45m ) Amelia Day Richard Beard
1:45 PM		BGS Session - Lamont Landers 1:45 PM - 3:00 PM ( 1h 15m ) Lamont Landers
2:00 PM			Kruger Brothers 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM ( 45m ) Kruger Brothers Russ Jordan				The Band Loula 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM ( 45m ) The Band Loula Martin Anderson	Cathy & Marcy's Old Time Coalition 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM ( 45m ) Cathy & Marcy's Old Time Coalition Laura Boosinger			Thumbpicking Workshop with Larry Nixon, Mike Palmer, Billy Gee, Joe Newberry, and Wayne Henderson 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM ( 45m ) Larry Nixon Banknotes Wayne Henderson Joe Newberry			Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM ( 45m ) Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper Jeff Fissel
2:15 PM															Melissa Carper 2:15 PM - 2:45 PM ( 30m ) Melissa Carper
2:30 PM		App State x MerleFest Oral History Interview - Steep Canyon Rangers - Barrett Smith & 1-2 additional members 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM ( 1h ) Steep Canyon Rangers
2:45 PM				Broken Compass Bluegrass 2:45 PM - 3:15 PM ( 30m ) Broken Compass Bluegrass Cindy Baucom		Full Steam Bluegrass 2:45 PM - 3:15 PM ( 30m ) Full Steam Bluegrass Damon Coe				Liam St. John 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM ( 45m ) Liam St. John Gary Miller			Hogslop String Band 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM ( 45m ) Hogslop String Band John Roten
3:00 PM					Mark Bumgarner 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM ( 45m ) Mark Bumgarner Joe Kendrick										The Band Loula 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM ( 30m ) The Band Loula
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	The Waybacks 3:15 PM - 4:00 PM ( 45m ) The Waybacks Sherry Boyd							Docabilly Blues Blowout with Mitch Greenhill and Friends 3:15 PM - 4:00 PM ( 45m ) Mitch Greenhill & Mitch's Kitchen Jeff Little Trio Jim Lauderdale T. Michael Coleman Amelia Day Jeff Fissel More...
3:30 PM						InterACTive Theater of JEF 3:30 PM - 4:00 PM ( 30m ) The InterACTive Theater of Jef Carol Rifkin		The Knackered Ramblers 3:30 PM - 4:15 PM ( 45m ) The Knackered Ramblers Dale Morris Laura Boosinger
3:45 PM											Anatomy of a Guitar 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		Liam St. John 4:00 PM - 4:30 PM ( 30m ) Liam St. John
4:15 PM					Cathy & Marcy's Old Time Coalition 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM ( 45m ) Cathy & Marcy's Old Time Coalition Joe Kendrick					Lamont Landers 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM ( 45m ) Lamont Landers Daniel Mullins
4:30 PM	Nature Walks with Ken Crouse 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM ( 1h ) Ken Crouse	App State x MerleFest - Oral History Interview - Jontavious Willis 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM ( 1h ) Jontavious Willis				Carolina Detour 4:30 PM - 5:00 PM ( 30m ) Carolina Detour Carol Rifkin	Shelby Means 4:30 PM - 5:15 PM ( 45m ) Shelby Means 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				Melissa Carper 4:45 PM - 5:30 PM ( 45m ) Melissa Carper Cindy Baucom
5:00 PM		BGS Session & Belk Reception - Scythian 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM ( 1h ) Scythian						Compton & Newberry 5:00 PM - 5:45 PM ( 45m ) Compton and Newberry Dale Morris Joe Newberry							Hogslop String Band 5:00 PM - 5:30 PM ( 30m ) Hogslop String Band
5:15 PM													Sunset Sessions with Steep Canyon Rangers 5:15 PM - 6:15 PM ( 1h ) Steep Canyon Rangers John Roten
5:30 PM			Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM ( 1h ) Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper Cindy Baucom		Kruger Brothers 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM ( 1h ) Kruger Brothers Joe Kendrick
5:45 PM							Fireside Collective 5:45 PM - 6:30 PM ( 45m ) Fireside Collective Sherry Boyd
6:00 PM															Broken Compass Bluegrass 6:00 PM - 6:30 PM ( 30m ) Broken Compass Bluegrass
6:15 PM								Seth Mulder & Midnight Run 6:15 PM - 7:00 PM ( 45m ) Seth Mulder & Midnight Run Dale Morris
6:30 PM				The Band Loula 6:30 PM - 7:15 PM ( 45m ) The Band Loula Martin Anderson
6:45 PM
7:00 PM															Steep Canyon Rangers 7:00 PM - 7:30 PM ( 30m ) Steep Canyon Rangers
7:15 PM			Molly Tuttle 7:15 PM - 8:15 PM ( 1h ) Molly Tuttle Martin Anderson							West Texas Exiles 7:15 PM - 8:15 PM ( 1h ) West Texas Exiles Daniel Mullins
7:30 PM
7:45 PM
8:00 PM															Shelby Means 8:00 PM - 8:30 PM ( 30m ) Shelby Means
8:15 PM				Lamont Landers 8:15 PM - 9:00 PM ( 45m ) Lamont Landers Martin Anderson
8:30 PM
8:45 PM
9:00 PM			Old Crow Medicine Show 9:00 PM - 11:00 PM ( 2h ) Old Crow Medicine Show Martin Anderson Willie Watson
9:15 PM
9:30 PM
9:45 PM
10:00 PM										Friday Night Dance with Hogslop String Band 10:00 PM - 11:30 PM ( 1h 30m ) Hogslop String Band Daniel Mullins
10:15 PM
10:30 PM
10:45 PM
11:00 PM
11:15 PM
11:30 PM
11:45 PM
12:00 AM
12:15 AM
12:30 AM
12:45 AM

Festival Calendar