Wilkes Community College campus
- Wilkesboro, North Carolina
MerleFest is an American music festival every year in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, on the Wilkes Community College campus, typically held on the last weekend of April. The festival is hosted by Doc Watson, a Grammy Award-winning artist. He founded the MerleFest in 1988. It was also the primary fundraising event for Wilkes Community College that attracted around 75,000 fans. That’s the reason the festival is considered one of the largest music festivals in the United States.
Music is spread all across the 13 different stages of MerleFest. The festival-goers experience a wide range of musical venues, styles, and groups to choose from. The festival combines different genres such as rock, Americana, Celtic, country, jazz, Cajun, old-time music, folk, blues, contemporary acoustic, and bluegrass.
Artists who have performed on the stage of MerleFest include Vince Gill, Cadillac Sky, Bruce Hornsby, Taj Mahal, Levon Helm, Linda Ronstadt, Dierks Bentley, Zac Brown Band, Old Crow Medicine Show, Tony Rice, The Avett Brothers, Sharon Gilchrist, and The Doobie Brothers. Visit the MerleFest website to purchase tickets. Dates of Event: April 27th - April 30th, 2023.
