Music festivals are becoming less attached to genre lines as the country’s biggest destination events, including Coachella and Bonnaroo, now court fans of a wide swath of musical styles. But for Johnny Grimes, co-founder of Iron Hills Music Festival—Birmingham, Alabama’s first country music gathering, which debuts in October—location can be as much of a draw as the artists themselves.
In fact, Grimes says the setting of Iron Hills—Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark, the site of a former blast furnace that gave the town its “Magic City” nickname for the rapid growth it spurred in the early twentieth century—was partially responsible for inspiring the festival’s origins.
“It’s the perfect backdrop to live music, especially country music,” Grimes says. “When you think about the working man, you think of country music. What better place to hear some great country music than literally at the bottom of a blast furnace where for years and years and years, workers made steel and pig iron? The scenery is one of the great draws to the festival.”
From the Gulf Coast’s sandy shores to urban gardens in the Mid-South and points between, festivalgoers will have their pick of locales and lineups at this fall’s marquee multi-day destinations. Here are eight of the top can’t-miss picks across the South.
Tanglefoot Music and Barbecue Festival
September 12–13, Temple, Texas
Texas means red dirt country music, and the lineup at the Tanglefoot Music and Barbecue Festival in Temple is dyed in the region’s signature soil. But despite appearances by Parker McCollum, Cody Jinks, Robert Earl Keen, Silverada, and Shelby Stone, it’s much more than just a survey of Texas’s best country artists. Sixteen barbecue joints representing its home state, such as Brick Vault in Marathon and Hill City Chop House in Tolar, as well as ’cue contenders from Kansas City, Memphis, Carolina, and points between, will slather the masses in that other beloved shade of red.
Mempho
October 3–5, Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis Botanic Garden, a 96-acre urban forest of 180 species of trees and 30 specialty gardens, is the perfect place to get lost both in nature and three nights of music largely inspired by the Bluff City. In the park’s Radians Amphitheater, Widespread Panic will preside over nights one and two, featuring jammy fellow travelers Leftover Salmon and Galactic as well as folkie Father John Misty and soul legend Mavis Staples.
Moon Crush: Avett Moon
October 3–5, Miramar Beach, Florida
Folk-pop favorites the Avett Brothers will host their own edition of Moon Crush in this Emerald Coast enclave near the western end of the celebrated 30A resort corridor. The bros will headline twice, preceded by night-one headliner Sierra Ferrell, and the lineup also features bluegrass star Molly Tuttle alongside Langhorne Slim, Paul Thorn, and Larkin Poe. (The site will also host two other multi-day fests this fall—Luke Combs Bootleggers Bonfire on October 23–25, and Moon Crush: Whiskey Moon featuring Whiskey Myers on November 7–9.)
Iron Hills Music Festival
October 11–12, Birmingham, Alabama
In the shadow of towering blast furnaces that once supplied a growing nation with valuable iron, country music’s newest destination festival will bring some of the genre’s biggest draws to Birmingham for two days of twang with headliners Turnpike Troubadours and Ryan Bingham. Festivalgoers can alternate between the main stage and the Shed, a second stage housed in a covered amphitheater at the foot of the National Historic Landmark’s largest furnace, to watch country acts like Jo Dee Messina, Travis Tritt, American Aquarium, and Maggie Rose.
Riverfront Revival
October 11–12, Charleston, South Carolina
On the scenic banks of the Cooper River, country music fans will find a stacked lineup at Riverfront Revival. Led by native son Darius Rucker, this Chucktown gathering aims for a blowout showing in its fourth year with sets by Riley Green, Whiskey Myers, and the Red Clay Strays. Don’t sleep on performances by Brittney Spencer, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, or naturalized transplant Bill Murray playing alongside his Blood Brothers.
ShoalsFest
October 11–12, Florence, Alabama
Jason Isbell may have moved away from the Muscle Shoals area years ago, but each year he curates a weekend of music for his hometown at ShoalsFest. While past iterations have reunited him with his former bandmates in Drive-By Truckers, among other treats, this year’s model will bring together some of the most revered songwriters past and present—legends Jackson Browne, Dan Penn, and Spooner Oldham will share the stage with indie-minded modern singer-songwriters MJ Lenderman and Waxahatchee. Plus, Isbell will perform with his longtime backing band, the 400 Unit.
Hulaween
October 30–November 2, Live Oak, Florida
With a Halloween theme and attendees encouraged to arrive in costume, the jam-heavy lineup of Hulaween will descend on the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park for a mashup of live music and ghoulish cosplay. Attendees will get two sets each from indie-jam darlings Goose, moe., and the Disco Biscuits, while venerable scenesters the String Cheese Incident will throw down a fiendishly excessive six sets throughout the weekend. Warming up the stages are bluegrass group the Infamous Stringdusters, who will perform with Sierra Hull, as well as Molly Tuttle, Grace Bowers and the Hodge Podge, Parlor Greens, and Susto Stringband.
The National Folk Festival
November 7–9, Jackson, Mississippi
Now in its 82nd year, the National Folk Festival will arrive in Jackson, Mississippi, on November 7, the opening of a three-year stay and the fest’s first time in the Deep South. The musical lineup will feature soul-blues legend Bobby Rush, zydeco star Jeffery Broussard, and even the famously choreographed Jackson State University “Sonic Boom of the South” marching band. In addition, a heritage area will spotlight the music, rituals, crafts, occupations, foodways, and other traditions at the heart of the host state’s cultural heritage.
