Note: Authored by David Menconi, this piece has been produced in partnership with Raleigh Arts. Menconi's latest book, "Oh, Didn't They Ramble: Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music," was published in the fall of 2023 by University of North Carolina Press. His podcast, Carolina Calling, explores the history of the Tar Heel State through music.
Raleigh began its post-IBMA era with style, debuting the city’s new Raleigh Wide Open outdoor festival the first weekend of October. Produced by PineCone (Piedmont Council of Traditional Music) in collaboration with primary sponsor PNC Bank, it was a major success. An estimated total of 155,000 attendees crowded downtown Raleigh Oct. 3-4, 2025, to see music on four free street stages in addition to a ticketed concert at Red Hat Amphitheater.
“Every indicator going in said it was going to do well, but until it does you don’t believe it,” says David Brower, executive director of festival producer PineCone. “This was a real proving year for us, a local production of a festival taking on a life of its own and thriving outside the IBMA partnership. We just had to see it to believe it, which was very gratifying.”
Raleigh Wide Open is an evolution of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s annual World of Bluegrass event, which took place in Raleigh from 2013 to 2024 before departing this year for Chattanooga, Tenn. Raleigh Wide Open delivered a lineup that went well beyond bluegrass, with a healthy quantity of gospel and also the Texas Southern soul band Shiny Ribs (which Brower calls “our ‘This ain’t IBMA’ moment”) on the schedule. Also new to the program was a Friday morning “fieldtrip festival” for more than 500 students at local elementary schools.
“That really worked well,” says Brower. “We were still setting up stages, and here comes this sea of kids coming down the street, It felt like the right way to begin, and I hope we can maintain that as a tradition moving forward.”
Organizers are still compiling survey data and crunching numbers, but so far anecdotal evidence is overwhelmingly positive. PineCone sold out all of its festival merchandise by mid-day Saturday, and by that evening Clyde Cooper’s BBQ was down to just turkey—solid indicators that the festival attracted big crowds downtown.
Early indications are that the majority of attendees came from Wake County in groups of four or more. As for what 2026 might bring, potential changes for next year include possibly adding Sunday programming to this year’s Friday-Saturday lineup.
“Mostly minor tweaks,” says Brower. “It was a cool community event and an affordable cultural experience. It was everything I hoped for in terms of bringing together a nice cross-section of people for a shared in-person real-life experience. Very affirming for me to be part of bringing people together, even if it might not last beyond that moment.”
One thing Brower would like to keep exactly the same for future years is, alas, beyond his control. The weather was absolutely perfect for this year’s model.
“Yeah, I would love to get this exact same weather every year,” Brower says with a laugh. “I was sweating bullets following those two hurricanes, until they turned. But there’s no problem that beautiful weather can’t solve, and we bagged a good weekend.”
Meanwhile, with Raleigh Wide Open in the rearview mirror, PineCone is looking ahead to its 2026 Down Home concert series at A.J. Fletcher Opera Theater. The schedule was recently released and kicks off Jan. 17, 2026, with singer/songwriter/North Carolina native Loudon Wainwright III.
The nine-show series has lots of traditional PineCone favorites from years past, including Appalachian Road Show on Jan. 30, bluegrass legend Peter Rowan on Feb. 27 and Steep Canyon Rangers alumnus Woody Platt and the Bluegrass Gentlemen on May 1. Also returning in 2026 are the Missouri bluegrass band The Hillbenders, whose last PineCone show was performing The Who’s rock opera “Tommy” as bluegrass in 2020. This time around, their show on April 17 is billed as “The Hillbenders Present…BeatleGrass”—bluegrass covers of, yes, Beatles songs.
Perhaps most intriguing is “Well, I Declare! America at 250” on April 10. The show will feature actor/playwright Mike Wiley performing a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence with musical reactions from musicians including Dawn Landes and Rissi Palmer.
Tickets for all shows are on sale now for PineCone members and go on sale to the general public at 10am on Oct. 29 at Ticketmaster.com.
2026 Down Home Concert Series
- Sat., Jan. 17 – Loudon Wainwright III
- Fri., Jan. 30 – Appalachian Road Show
- Fri., Feb. 13 – Solas
- Fri., Feb. 27 – Peter Rowan
- Fri., March 20 – Balsam Range
- Fri., April 10 – “Well, I Declare! America at 250” with Dawn Landes, Mike Wiley, Rissi Palmer, Joseph Terrell and others
- Fri., April 17 – The Hillbenders Present…”BeatleGrass”
- Fri., May 1 – Woody Platt and the Bluegrass Gentlemen
- Fri., May 22 – The Secret Sisters
All shows start at 7:30om at A.J. Fletcher Opera Theater in the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St. in downtown Raleigh. See Ticketmaster.com for ticket details or call the PineCone Box Office at 919-664-8333.
