he Earl Scruggs Music Festival will be hosted at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, NC from Friday, September 2 through Sunday, September 4, 2022. There are three stages: the Flint Hill Stage (main stage), the Foggy Mountain Stage, and Legends Workshop Stage. ESMF will include a family area with children’s activities.

The NC Folk Festival’s annual presentation of “Songs of Hope & Justice” event will be September 8 at 8pm in the Van Dyke Performance Space. The concert, which will feature songs that shine a light on important social issues—past and present, will be hosted by North Carolina’s own singer-songwriter Laurelyn Dossett Music. Dossett is well known for her own protest songs, including “Vote Against Amendment One” and “My Beloved Enemy,” as well as others on regional topics such as the coal ash spill and the loss of textile jobs. Performances will include songs from folk legends such as Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and Odetta, as well as new and original songs underscoring today’s most pressing social challenges. Dossett has brought together an outstanding group of performers to celebrate the role of folk songs—specifically protest songs—in America. Additional performers include: Alice Gerrard, Rissi Palmer, Dori Freeman, Molly McGinn , Sam Fribush, Nick Falk, Alex Bingham, and more!

The Music at the Museum series started during the pandemic to showcase diverse North Carolina bands that represent our state’s rich musical landscape. Recorded in the Museum galleries and presented with Come Hear North Carolina, this virtual concert series kicked off September 1, 2020, and premiered on PBS North Carolina in April 2021.

This October we welcome back five artists from the Museum’s free livestreamed and PBS–broadcasted Music at the Museum series, this time to the Park Theater stage: Chatham County Line, Rissi Palmer, Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba, Lakota John, and ¡Tumbao!

Can’t catch it in person? There will also be livestreamed components for access from home!