Piedmont-based music nonprofit PineCone announced a new bluegrass festival called Raleigh Wide Open which will replace IBMA World of Bluegrass + Bluegrass Live! in 2025.
Raleigh Wide Open will take center stage Oct. 3-4, 2025 and is named in honor of the original Oak City bluegrass festival. IBMA Bluegrass Live! will rock Raleigh one last time Sept. 27-28 with acts like Sierra Ferrell + Steep Canyon Rangers. IBMA’s festival amassed 223,000 attendees from 2017 to 2023.
During the festival’s 10th year in the City of Oaks in 2023, IBMA announced that World of Bluegrass + Bluegrass Live! would leave Raleigh — the festival will head to Chattanooga, Tennessee starting in 2025.
“The festival will certainly include bluegrass but will be much more culturally expansive,” said David Brower, PineCone’s executive director, in a 2023 press release. “Gospel, funk, blues, and old time are deeply rooted in this community and a whole lot of fun. We want to make sure this new festival both looks and sounds like Raleigh.”
