MerleFest organizers have announced the lineup for the 2026 festival in Wilkesboro, and the headliners include a returning longtime favorite.
Alison Krauss’s MerleFest performances date back to the 1990s, but she hasn’t taken the stage at Wilkesboro Community College since 2011. That’s scheduled to change when she headlines the event in April with her band Union Station.
She’s one of dozens of artists announced for the 2026 lineup, which includes local and regional performers. Lindsay Craven, artist relations manager for the “traditional-plus” music festival, says organizers survey audiences to determine who will be booked at the following year’s event.
She says Krauss, winner of 27 Grammy Awards, always makes the list.
Craven says the popular late-night jam will also be back. It had been on hiatus but returned last year, led by progressive bluegrass musician Sam Bush.
“We really kind of got back to the roots of what that event was when it started," Craven says. "It's going to be very rambunctious and exciting up there, even though it's a late-night jam, I think people are gonna be very excited and hyped up.”
This year’s jam will be led by co-headliner Old Crow Medicine Show.