Raleigh Wide Open — new bluegrass festival Oct. 2-4 (including kick-off celebration)

Kickoff Celebration October 2

A free kickoff celebration takes place Thursday, October 2, 2025, from 6 to 9 p.m., at The Corner at NC State’s Centennial Campus, 941 Main Campus Drive, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Gates open at 5:30 p.m., with music starting at 6 p.m.

The concert features:

• Stillhouse Junkies
• Tray Wellington Band
• The Barefoot Movement

Friday, October 3

City Plaza Stage

• 5 p.m.: Unspoken Tradition
• 6:15 p.m.: Jason Carter Band
• 7:45 p.m.: Shinyribs
• 9:45 p.m.: Palmyra

City of Raleigh Museum

• 5 p.m.: Talk: NC Folklife
• 6 p.m.: Talk: Square Dances in NC
• 7 p.m.: Talk: Quartet Gospel Singing

Davie Street Stage

• 5 p.m.: Omar Ruiz-Lopez
• 6:15 p.m.: A Nest of Singing Birds
• 7:30 p.m.: Stillhouse Junkies
• 8:45 p.m.: The Gospel Jubilators
• 10 p.m.: Unspoken Tradition

Martin Street Stage

• 5:15 p.m.: Slippery Hill Bluegrass
• 6:30 p.m.: Square Dance with Joseph Decosimo
• 9 p.m.: Square Dance with Omar Ruiz-Lopez

PineCone Stage

• 5:15 p.m.: Stillhouse Junkies
• 6:30 p.m.: Jared Payton & The Legacy Chorale
• 7:45 p.m.: Town Mountain
• 9 p.m.: Jim Lauderdale
• 10:15 p.m.: Hank, Pattie & The Current

Saturday, October 4

City Plaza Stage

• 12 p.m.: Eliza Meyer & The New Carolina Tar Heels
• 1 p.m.: Big Fat Gap
• 2:15 p.m.: Jalessa Cade
• 3:30 p.m.: A Nest of Singing Birds
• 5 p.m.: Balsam Range
• 6:15 p.m.: Sunny War
• 7:30 p.m.: Hank, Pattie & Current
• 9 p.m.: Susto Stringband
• 10 p.m.: Tray Wellington Band

City of Raleigh Museum

• 12 p.m.: Gospel Radio Lab: Piedmont Origins
• 1 p.m.: Gospel Radio Lab: Civil Rights Era & Beyond
• 2 p.m.: Gospel Radio Lab: Present & Future

Davie Street Stage

• 12 p.m.: Charly Lowry
• 1:15 p.m.: Dom Flemons
• 2:30 p.m.: Susto (solo)
• 3:45 p.m.: The Gospel Jubilators
• 5 p.m.: Holler Choir
• 6:15 p.m.: Charly Lowry
• 7:30 p.m.:O Sonny Miles
• 8:45 p.m.: Joseph Decosimo
• 10 p.m.: A Nest of Singing Birds

Martin Street Stage

• 12:15 p.m.: Cabin Creature
• 1:30 p.m.: Carolina Bluegrass Band
• 2:45 p.m.: The Loblollies
• 4 p.m.: Nixon, Williams & Gage
• 5:15 p.m.: The Williamson Brothers
• 6:30 p.m.: Square Dance with Earl White String Band
• 9 p.m.: Square Dance with Joe Troop & Big Fat Gap

PineCone Stage

• 12:15 p.m.: Earl White String Band
• 1:30 p.m.: Chris Johnson & Freedom
• 2:45 p.m.: Sunny War
• 4 p.m.: Tray Wellington Band
• 5:15 p.m.: Mason Via
• 6:30 p.m.: Blue Cactus
• 7:45 p.m.: Kingdom Voices United
• 9 p.m.: Dom Flemons
• 10:15 p.m.: The Gravy Boys