MerleFest Dreaming: One Of America’s Premier Roots Festivals Is Worth The Road Trip

This year marked the 35th edition of MerleFest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. This legendary festival was founded in 1988 in memory of Eddy Merle Watson as a fundraiser for Wilkes Community College and to celebrate and is a celebration of “traditional plus” music.  Traditional plus is a unique mix of genres based on the traditional, roots-oriented sounds of the Appalachian region, including bluegrass and old-time music, and expanded to include Americana, country, blues, rock, and many other styles. Held each year at the end of April, MerleFest is the world's biggest and most prestigious roots / traditional music festival. Their motto is "Music, Moments, and Memories." For each of its four days, this festival lived up to and surpassed every expectation of this festival. It is an exceptionally joyous experience that feels like a hometown Fourth of July street festival full of community warmth, pride, authenticity, and southern hospitality.  

Driving through downtown Wilkesboro, the entire town has opened up to welcome and fully embrace the festival and its guests. At MerleFest, you will experience you will find something for everyone - a considerable kid zone, a vast food hall, a vendor and a craft zone, and twelve stages. For those who are hungry, down-home cooking will settle your stomach, including delicious hand pies and deep-fried pickles. There are numerous instruments to try out, with instrument manufacturers present to sit down and start picking with any fellow festival goers. MerleFest breathes the full spectrum of music, and attendees will be gobsmacked by the number of hard and soft cases people have strapped to their backs.

Scott and Seth Avett of The Avett Brothers and from Concord, NC, summed up the MerleFest experience best when they headlined Friday's performances. They talked of how they came as children to the festival, saying they wanted to be a performer one day and "get in on that." However, once they started performing at here, they soon realized that the line separating a performer from a patron was minimal. When you attend MerleFest, you are part of the whole experience and how special it is. We could not agree more with their observation and distilled why we loved every moment and every aspect of this festival.

It is not just residents of North Carolina that want to "get in on MerleFest." During this festival, we met people from all corners of the country - Alaska, California, Louisiana, and Maine. People worldwide also traveled to Wilkesboro as we met roots fans from Switzerland, Germany, and Finland. Not only will you find people from all over the world, but people of all ages at the festivals - from young adults to empty nesters to grandparents alongside their grandchildren.  

For years music lovers throughout the DMV would talk about the various regional festivals. In particular, as we traded festival stories like baseball trading cards, one festival always came up - MerleFest. Many heard of the festival and its unforgettable performances and tales. For many, we found this North Carolina festival to be just outside of our reach as if an imaginary line and radius had been drawn around the greater Washington DC Metro Area. It seemed so close, and while the performances and allure were so compelling, we would rarely find anyone who had made the journey to Wilkesboro. Everyone told us how this festival was on their bucket list, they planned to go there and heard great things, but still had yet to attend. For those few individuals and artists we spoke with, their faces lit up when they spoke about their experience here.  

This year MerleFest held a 100th-year birthday celebration for namesake Merle Watson's father - music legend Doc Watson. The lineup and energy were so compelling we had to make the journey to Wilkesboro, North Carolina. For all the imaginary boundaries and notions that the festival is just a little too far away from Washington, DC, we are here to tell you that it is within your grasp and worth the trip.  

Wilkesboro, North Carolina, is remarkably easy to get to from Washington, DC. Although this festival is nearly 380 miles away from Washington, DC, directions and driving are simple with picturesque highway driving - take I-66 out to Front Royal, VA; hop onto I-81 down past Roanoke, VA; head to I-77 south to Wilkesboro, NC; and get on US-421 straight into the heart of Wilkesboro.

As you leave the metro area, you see the clutter, hustle, and traffic of Washington, DC, evaporate into the background. When heading towards the Shenandoah Valley, you will see morning clouds gently rolling over and clinging to the luscious landscapes. The way that city life falls away and gives way to the splendor of the countryside by the time you turn onto I-81, the picturesque Shenandoah guides your journey down south for 218 miles. Depending on the onset of Spring, your journey will see colors besides green - be on the lookout for spring fireworks and colors, including bright yellow bushes and vibrant pink Eastern Redbud trees. If you want to break up the trip, we recommend breaking up the journey with a stop at Devil's Backbone's Basecamp in Lexington, Virginia, for food and beverages. You can also stop at natural wonders like Natural Bridge and Luray Caverns in southern Virginia.

We found our way to Wilkesboro Campground, more affectionately known as SewerFest. Not only is this campground spacious and beautiful, but during MerleFest, it provides its buses that run nonstop to and from the campground directly to the festival's entrance. SewerFest has accommodations for both car and RV camping, and nothing is overlooked. At SewerFest, you will find all the standard campground accommodations, plus a full-service kitchen serving breakfast, lunch, dinner, and post-concert food. With great delight, you can order a coffee and biscuit for breakfast (vegetarian options are available). If you want to avoid setting up a tent after driving to Wilkesboro, we recommend Dancin' Dave's Festival Camping. Reserve your camping spot, tell Dancin' Dave where your site is, and arrive at a spacious tent set up with a cot and chair included.  We will note that the one thing Wilkesboro may not have is adequate hotel accommodations. It has only a few hotels which are booked almost immediately after becoming available.

Music poured out of every corner of the Wilkes Community College Campus for four magical and music-filled days. This enormous festival has twelve official stages but many more impromptu performance areas dotting the festival grounds. During the festival, we affectionately said that this festival has more stages than any of us have fingers or toes.

There were many memorable moments at this year's event. Probably more than anyone could remember and spread out over the plethora of stages. The following list is in no particular order:

• Tommy Emmanuel's performance. His performance included some notes clocking in at 50 notes per bar, performing an indescribable "American Tune" by Paul Simon only to be topped off by a breathtaking "Amazing Grace." 
• The torrential, if not epic, storm that occurred during Brothers of a Feather's performance as they serenaded us with some of their most beloved acoustic songs by The Black Crowes.  
• DC Metro Area artist Yasmin Williams' performance on the Hillside Stage where this unique guitarist produced a roboust wall-of-sound out of a single instrument.
• The Album Hour hosted by The Waybacks covering The Who's Who's Next with an all-star cast. Members included Sam Bush, Jim Lauderdale, Celia Woodsmith of Della Mae, and Ali McGuirk. 
• A bust-out, jaw-dropping, and perhaps career-defining performance by Bee Taylor.
• The intimate hometown vibe and performance by The Avett Brothers.
• Mando Mania, where the best mandolin performers and their priceless instruments are collectively assembled under one roof.  
• World-class performances, spontaneous sit-ins, and unforgettable collaborations from artists and ensembles spanning multiple stages. This included The Travelin McCourys & Friends, where living legends Del McCoury, Peter Rowan, Sam Bush, and Jim Lauderdale all performed together. The MerleFest Bluegrass All-Stars also consisted of many more living legends.

The one notable performance that stood out and was talked about for days afterward by everyone we spoke to was The Black Opry Revue. This all-star ensemble performed passionately and sang about some uncomfortable and necessary truths, which were well received and embraced by the audience.

Performances at this festival are a rare confluence, collaboration, and sit-ins by musicians you rarely would see together at a single festival, let alone see perform on the same stage together. One-in-a-lifetime lineups are one of the things that make this festival so unique. Where else will you see Sam Bush lean over and whisper into Jerry Douglas's ear and share a laugh?  Then, seconds later, Sam Bush shares yet another joke with Peter Rowan.  This festival specializes in authentic, heartfelt, and once-in-a-lifetime performances and interactions.

For all these reasons and many more will always add MerleFest to the festivals we must attend. We strongly encourage you to come- it is worth the drive, and it is worth the priceless memories you will take away from Wilkesboro, NC. This festival is within your reach - it just requires a little more time and gas than it takes to get to other festivals. The priceless experiences and cherished moments are truly and indescribably worth it. 

We are already giddy with anticipation for MerleFest 36, which will take place from April 25th to 28th, 2024.  We hope to see you in downtown Wilkesboro and beside the campsite fires and pickin' parties at nearby campgrounds, and most of all, sharing some priceless moments with you at MerleFest!