Tickets on sale and volunteer opportunities are available

WILKESBORO, N.C. — It’s the most wonderful time of the year … and I’m not talking about the upcoming holidays. Instead, this is the season for finding out who will be performing at next year’s live music festivals and this week’s initial 35th edition of MerleFest‘s lineup announcement for April 27-30, 2023, did not disappoint.

Country music sensation Maren Morris is set to make her MerleFest debut on the campus of Wilkes Community College on Saturday along with the Black Opry Revue who will hit the stage on Friday. And the wildly popular North Carolina natives The Avett Brothers, who first performed at MerleFest in 2004 and are one of the most requested performers in the festival’s history, are set to return on Friday at the festival, which will also honor Doc Watson’s 100th birthday year.

To celebrate the historic milestone event, organizers intend to feature MerleFest’s unique history and present unique collaborations to honor the festival’s founding folk icon.  From the flatbed trailer stage at the 1988 Eddy Merle Watson Memorial Festival to today, and looking into the future, MerleFest, which has served as the unofficial kickoff of the annual outdoor festival season, is an annual homecoming of musicians and music fans. Since its inception, the festival has drawn fans from all over the world to the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains each spring to make music, moments and memories together.

Also joining the lineup, will be award-winning MerleFest veterans Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Peter Rowan, Jim Lauderdale and Scythian, in addition to many, many more including:

Andy May

Banknotes

Carol Rifkin

Charles Welch

Donna the Buffalo

Jack Lawrence

Jeff Little Trio

Joe Smothers

Kruger Brothers

Laura Boosinger

The Local Boys

Mark Bumgarner

Mitch Greenhill & Mitch’s Kitchen

Pete & Joan Wernick

Presley Barker

Roy Book Binder

T. Michael Coleman

The InterACTive Theater of Jef

The Waybacks

Tony Williamson

Wayne Henderson

To learn more, purchase tickets or to volunteer visit https://merlefest.org/.