Earl Scruggs Music Festival Announces Expansive 2026 Lineup

Bluegrass is hot right now, and only continues to get hotter as a whole new generation of performers and fans inspired by the subgenre’s new stars like Billy Strings continue to come on board. There might not be a better example of this enthusiasm and growth in bluegrass than the rapid expansion of the Earl Scruggs Music Festival in Mill Spring, North Carolina, set to transpire September 4-6 in 2026.

The event was started in 2022 as an extension of the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, NC as a way to keep the name and legacy of the banjo legend alive. It has expanded into a 3-day bluegrass megafest featuring many of the top names in the discipline. In 2025 it was named the International Bluegrass Music Association Event of the Year.

In 2026, the festival expands once again by adding on-site amenities at the Tryon International Equestrian Center, a new Louise Scruggs Stage in honor of the groundbreaking achievements of Earl’s beloved wife and manager who helped break down barriers for women in the music industry, as well as the newly opened Overmountain Lodge to offer more accommodations. For what you can expect from the festival experience, you can check out Saving Country Music’s 2025 Recap.

Headliners include North Carolina’s own The Avett Brothers, Greensky Bluegrass, the legendary Del McCoury Band, Béla Fleck’s My Bluegrass Heart, The Earls of Leicester, artist-in-residence Alison Brown, Bluegrass Queen Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, surging up-and-comers Mountain Grass Unit, and many more. See full daily lineups below.

For tickets and more info, visit earlscruggsmusicfest.com.

Friday, September 4

Béla Fleck: My Bluegrass Heart
The Earls of Leicester with Jerry Douglas
Alison Brown Quintet
Rhonda Vincent & The Rage
Della Mae
Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands
Magoo
The Foreign Landers
Charly Lowry
Vickie Vaughn Band
Daniel Kimbro
AVAS: The Acoustic Vibration Appreciation Society
The Blue Healers
Junior Appalachian Musicians

Saturday, September 5

Greensky Bluegrass
The Del McCoury Band
Alison Brown Quintet
East Nash Grass
Special Consensus
Jacoozy
The Scruggs Sessions featuring Travis Book & Friends
Pickers Anonymous
The Foxhounds
Murphy Campbell presented by the Blue Ridge Music Trails
Carolina Detour
Nick & Brew
Junior Appalachian Musicians

Sunday, September 6

The Avett Brothers
Mountain Grass Unit
Lindsay Lou
Rissi Palmer
John Cowan Trio with Luke Bulla
Lonesome River Band with Telegrass
Darin & Brooke Aldridge
Andy Falco & Travis Book Play Jerry Garcia
The Biscuit Eaters
The Carolina Bluegrass Band
Junior Appalachian Musicians
The Battle of The Banjos Competition Winner