Rhiannon Giddens’ Biscuits & Banjos presents a day of free programming at The Fruit, 305 S Dillard Street, Durham, North Carolina, on Sunday, April 26, 2026. The programming is for the first anniversary of the sold-out Biscuits & Banjos festival that took place in Durham.
The day of programming reflects the spirit at the heart of Biscuits & Banjos, celebrating music, memory, community, scholarship and cultural exchange. There will be a full day of events, from 10:15 a.m. to 6 p.m., and an “evening frolic” with square dancing, line dancing and live music, from 8 to 10 p.m.
Pre-registration is required, but all events are first-come, first-served. Meaning that you need a ticket, but that having a ticket doesn’t guarantee you admission. (So make sure to get there a little early.) Register here.
Color Me Country x Beloved Community: A songversation between Rissi Palmer and Kamara Thomas
10:30 a.m.
Conversation and acoustic performance from Durham based songspeller, ritualist, multidisciplinary storyteller, and creator of Country Soul Songbook, Kamara Thomas and Rissi Palmer. Both mothers and musicians, the two discuss how to create like that life work balance, the pivot that so many artists have had to do in order to keep above water in the current climate, and building community within a musical space and balancing creative work with organizing and advocacy. Between the discussion, Kamara will play selections from her vast discography.
Dip Family Reunion
12 p.m.
To celebrate the release of Spring Council’s debut cookbook Southern Roots: Recipes and Stories from Mama Dip’s Daughter, Biscuits & Banjos will host the author in conversation about her family’s legacy in food and entrepreneurship. Inspired by her mother’s near fifty year run at the helm of Mama Dip’s Kitchen, a beloved Chapel Hill institution, Spring will reflect on the power of gathering people around good food. Curated by BEM | books & more, a New York-based bookstore & culinary hub dedicated to global Black storytelling and foodways.
Songs of the Living
1:30 p.m.
A session in collaborating with storytellers through calls to sing, featuring Toshi Reagon, Alexis Pauline Gumbs and Destiny Hemphill.
Bookmobile
1:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Courtesy of Durham County Public Library
Books specially curated for checkout by Biscuits and Banjos and BEM | books and more! Kids coloring sheets of Black country trailblazers available!
Kristina Gaddy x Rhiannon Giddens: Go Back and Fetch It – A Book Talk and Signing
3 p.m.
Join groundbreaking banjo scholar Kristina Gaddy and Pulitzer prize winner Rhiannon Giddens as they talk about their book Go Back and Fetch It: Recovering Early Black Music in the Americas for Fiddle and Banjo (UNC Press 2025). Books will be available for purchase and signing.
For the first time, this groundbreaking songbook collaboration by Gaddy and Giddens makes nineteen examples of early Black Atlantic music accessible and playable for today’s musicians, music enthusiasts, and historians. Presenting music from 1687 through the 1860s in modern treble clef and banjo tablature, along with the rich stories behind each song, Gaddy and Giddens take readers on a journey from the Caribbean across the Americas.
Immensely readable for amateurs and professionals alike, Go Back and Fetch It explains the significance of early Black Atlantic music and how the patterns of tunings, melodic lines, and lyrics shed light on the impact that Black American music has had on nineteenth-century popular music, early country, old time, and bluegrass. Each tune pairs with an engaging essay on its historical background and how the tune transformed over time, as well as information about the collector. Deeply researched and carefully approached, this essential source restores the roots of Black music to the musical canon.
Fifty Years of Edna Lewis’ The Taste of Country Cooking
4:30 p.m.
Reflect on fifty years of the seminal cookbook by Virginia-raised chef Edna Lewis: The Taste Of Country Cooking. We’ll explore Edna Lewis’ legacy and lasting impact on American foodways, bringing her work into conversation with other books including Michael Carter’s forthcoming Africulture: How The Principles, Practices, Plants, and People of African Descent Have Shaped American Agriculture. Moderated by Danielle Davenport, co-founder of BEM | books & more. Curated by BEM | books & more, a New York-based bookstore & culinary hub dedicated to global Black storytelling and foodways.
Evening Frolic: Line and Square Dance
8 to 10 p.m.
Music from Jake Blount, Justin Robinson, Rhiannon Giddens, Jason Sypher and Demeanor.
Calling by Phil Jamison.
Line dance song selection by Malinda D. Evans.
Double-Check Before You Head Out!
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However, sometimes things change without notice, and it’s also possible that we can make a mistake.
Please verify all deals and events with the venue or organizer before you go.
More Events
Check out our list of free and cheap events in Raleigh and the rest of the Triangle this weekend, or our full event calendar in the Triangle, or just look at few upcoming events here:
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