Folk Festivals 2026-2027

333 upcoming festivals feature Folk, 158 where it dominates; 110 with tickets on sale.

Folk at festivals

Folk festivals cover acoustic songwriting, traditional music, bluegrass, Americana and Celtic folk, usually with dancing and open stages for amateurs. Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island was set up in 1959 by George Wein, who had already founded the town's jazz festival, with Pete Seeger and Theodore Bikel among the co-founders. In England, Cambridge Folk Festival has been held since 1965 in the grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall, with a floor singers' stage on its campsite.

The season runs well beyond summer. In Australia, Port Fairy Folk Festival, founded in 1977 in Victoria, takes place over the Labour Day long weekend in March. In the US, MerleFest, started in 1988 by Doc Watson in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, fills the last weekend of April with bluegrass, old-time and Americana. Newport keeps its late-July slot at Fort Adams State Park. Cambridge sits in early August.

The most Folk festivals

Ranked by the share of the lineup tagged Folk (at least 5 identified artists).

  1. 183% Folk
  2. 283% Folk
  3. 380% Folk
  4. 475% Folk
  5. 575% Folk
  6. 670% Folk
  7. 770% Folk
  8. 868% Folk
  9. 967% Folk
  10. 1064% Folk

Full calendar of Folk festivals

The 158 upcoming festivals where Folk dominates (at least 20% of the identified lineup, or 3 artists of the genre), month by month. The percentage is the share of identified artists in the lineup tagged Folk.

October 2026 (40)

November 2026 (25)

December 2026 (5)

January 2027 (7)

February 2027 (6)

March 2027 (8)

April 2027 (15)

May 2027 (10)

June 2027 (12)

July 2027 (16)

August 2027 (6)

Later in the calendar: 8 more festivals where Folk dominates

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🇬🇧 Folk festivals in the UK

28 upcoming festivals in the UK where Folk dominates the lineup; 22 with tickets on sale. Next up: SWN Festival 2026, Cardiff, October 15, 2026.

🇺🇸 Folk festivals in the US

59 upcoming festivals in the US where Folk dominates the lineup; 31 with tickets on sale. Next up: Hillberry 2026, Eureka Springs, October 7, 2026.

Also featuring Folk (a minority of the bill) — 175

and 25 more

Folk sub-genres

Folk festivals by country

Ticket prices

Entry from €1; median entry price €66 (across 142 festivals with a known price).