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Whether your taste in music is rock, R&B, bluegrass, hip-hop, metal or somewhere in between, there’s a music festival in North Carolina that will have you dancing in the streets this fall. Any of these events will make for the highlight of a great weekend getaway.
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Hopscotch Music Fest
This annual festival has been called “America’s (Secretly) Best Festival” and “the premier experimental and underground festival in America.” More than 100 bands perform over three days, making it one of North Carolina’s largest annual music festivals.
Mountain Song Festival
Held at Brevard Music Center’s Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium, artists for this family-friendly music event include Sam Bush Band, Alison Brown, Steep Canyon Rangers and more. In addition to the mountain music, there's plenty of food, local artists, children’s activities and nature interests. Proceeds benefit the local Boys and Girls Club.
North Carolina Folk Festival
The National Folk Festival’s successful three-year run in Greensboro led to the creation of the North Carolina Folk Festival. You can expect traditional performers and craftspeople, several stages of continuous music and dance, regional foods and family fun. Admission is free.
Breakaway Music Festival Carolina
Located right outside Charlotte in Concord, Breakaway Carolina turns the zMAX Dragway at Charlotte Motor Speedway into one of the few large-scale EDM festivals NC gets to claim, with a lineup that includes Chris Lake, Cloonee b2b Chris Lorenzo, Kettama, Tiesto and more. Looking to spend the whole weekend? Check out the Carolina package, which includes admission paired with premium hotel stays.
Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance
Four days of banjos, fiddles and global rhythms take over a farm in Pittsboro every October, when the Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival turns a stretch of Piedmont woods into a music lover's paradise. Camp on-site, catch dance workshops between sets and let the kids loose at their own dedicated activities while you wander from stage to stage. If you can't make the fall event, catch the spring show the full first weekend of May.
Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival
Celebrating the kind of music played on the porches of this coastal town decades ago — and some of the artists really will play on porches — this free festival features folk, Americana, bluegrass, country, gospel and jazz. You’ll also find arts and crafts, food and additional vendors in the walkable town of Oriental, the Sailing Capital of North Carolina.
Duck Jazz Festival
This free festival offers two days of live jazz music on the Outer Banks. Food and drinks will be available for purchase from local restaurants, and you’re welcome to bring your own food and coolers as well as chairs, blankets and pets.
Bluegrass Island Music Festival
Four days of “good ol' Southern pickin’” in the tradition of music legends, the 15th annual Bluegrass Island Music Festival at Roanoke Island Festival Park features today’s bluegrass stars including Punch Brothers, Infamous Stringdusters, Appalachian Road Show and many others. Festival food includes fresh local Outer Banks seafood, barbecue, burgers, sausages and more.