Artist Lineup Announced for Raleigh Wide Open 2026

After a triumphant return as a fully locally produced event in 2025, the Raleigh Wide Open Music Festival presented by PNC Bank is back this fall for more music, culture and fun.

Today, festival producer PineCone (the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music) announced the artist lineup for the free three-day event, which kicks off Oct. 1 and concludes Oct. 3. The acts represent a wide range of genres with deep roots in North Carolina, including bluegrass, folk, gospel, Latin and blues. The 40+ bands scheduled to perform during the festival are listed below in alphabetical order:

Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves

The Asheville Mountain Boys

The Blue Ridge Girls

Carolina Bluegrass Band

Earl White Stringband

The Five Points Rounders

From China to Appalachia

The Gospel Jubilators

Hank, Pattie & The Current

Jacob Sharp (of Mipso)

Joe Troop’s Truth Machine

Joseph Terrell (of Mipso)

Junior Appalachian Musicians

Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road

Luke & the Cool Hands

Nixon, Williams & Gage

The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys

Tan & Sober Gentlemen

Tony Trischka’s EarlJam

Tray Wellington Band

“It’s going to be so much fun to see this collection of performers come downtown,” says PineCone Executive Director David Brower. “With bluegrass, old-time, gospel, blues and even a little norteño, this is a lineup that speaks to who we are as a community. It’s what PineCone is all about.”

The festivities will begin with a kickoff celebration on N.C. State’s Centennial Campus Thursday evening, Oct. 1. Downtown Raleigh will come to life with four stages of music, plus food trucks and art vendors, Fri., Oct. 2-Sat., Oct. 3. True to its Wide Open name, the festival is free; no tickets or wristbands are needed for any part of the event.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of free local events using “Wide Open” in the name, a sign of Raleigh’s community spirit and sense of local pride. The first Wide Open festival was held in 2006 to mark the transformation of Fayetteville Street into its current, vibrant form. Two decades later, the Raleigh Wide Open Music Festival continues that spirit of celebration and community, with music as the beating heart.

More than 150,000 people attended the 2025 Raleigh Wide Open Music Festival, enjoying live music, a vibrant arts market, and tantalizing food and drink options. Like past festivals under the Wide Open name, the event brought millions of dollars in economic impact for local businesses and the Raleigh area and elevated the city’s status as a cultural tourism destination.

To learn more about the festival, visit raleighwideopen.com.