MerleFest Announces Its 2025 Lineup, The Avett Brothers and Bonnie Raitt to Headline

MerleFest, the annual “traditional-plus” music festival held in Wilkesboro, NC, has officially unveiled their lineup for 2025. This year’s headliners feature two North Carolina-based folk-rock acts—genre staples The Avett Brothers and the Appalachian duo Watchhouse—as well as legendary singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt and Canadian bluegrass ensemble The Dead South. The festival will take place on the Wilkes Community College campus from April 24-27.

Founded in 1988 by Doc Watson in memory of his late son, Eddy Merle Watson, the festival’s main throughline is blending “traditional music of the Appalachian region,” plus the other styles that the father-son duo was “in the mood to play.”