There will be a new look to the Bluegrass Festival in 2025. PineCone and the City of Raleigh have plans to produce a newly reimagined Raleigh Wide Open Bluegrass Festival that continues the tradition of IBMA Bluegrass Live powered by PNC. The 2025 version of the festival that locals simply call “Bluegrass” will include all of the things we love about Downtown Raleigh’s signature event plus a few new surprises.
WHAT’S CHANGING?
The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) announced on September 27th that 2024 will be its final year in Raleigh and that it is moving World of Bluegrass (WOB) to Chattanooga, TN. That’s the weeklong event that includes a private business conference, industry showcase performances and the awards show. The City of Raleigh put together a competitive bid proposal to keep WOB in Raleigh but the terms of an agreement could not be reached. So the branding for the festival in downtown Raleigh will be changing in 2025 but the fun will continue.
“The goal is to keep the spirit of the event intact, and that spirit and goal is to create a cultural experience that reflects the city of Raleigh,” said PineCone’s David Brower to Axios. “We consider it a success when we see a family, with the kids, parents and grandparents all enjoying the festival.”
AXIOS 07/30/24
IS THERE A NAME FOR THE NEW FESTIVAL?
YES! We’re calling it Raleigh Wide Open. That’s the original name for the festival when it began more than a decade ago. And yes, the squirrel is coming back, with a banjo in hand.
Raleigh Wide Open will have all the elements that everybody loves about Bluegrass now. There will be stages, jamming, art, food and some of the best musicians and entertainers in the country. The new festival model will continue to support PineCone’s mission to present, preserve and promote traditional music that’s rooted in this region.
“While it is always sad to see a wonderful era end, we eagerly anticipate what our great city has planned for 2025 and beyond,” said Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin. “We’re grateful to our friends at the IBMA for expanding the roots and branches of bluegrass in Raleigh, and I look forward to a reimagined festival run by PineCone, with a continued focus on diversity and inclusion.”
PRESS RELEASE 09/27/23
THIS IS MY FAVORITE WEEKEND OF THE YEAR – IS IT OVER?
Not at all! There will be a festival September 27-28, 2024 produced by PineCone and the City of Raleigh in partnership with IBMA under the current agreement. That will be followed by a newly reimagined Raleigh Wide Open Bluegrass Festival beginning in October 2025. PineCone and the City of Raleigh are firmly committed to continuing to produce a world-class event that celebrates bluegrass and other musical genres rooted in community.
“The weekend festival has always been an activation of the Local Organizing Committee,” said Loren Gold of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We’re excited to put all we have learned over this past decade together to create a new homegrown festival. We’re going to work with our local partners to reimagine a new festival. It’s going to keep growing and getting even better.”
Press release 09/27/23
WHERE IS IBMA GOING?
On July 29, 2024, IBMA announced Chattanooga, TN as the new host city for the business conference.
IS THIS ABOUT MONEY?
In part, yes, but not entirely. The current contract with the IBMA covers 2022, 2023 and 2024. As in years past, another extension was proposed and negotiated by the City of Raleigh in good faith. It’s a business deal which of course includes financial details like hotel room rates, facility rental fees and revenue sharing. But this relationship has always been about much more than dollars and cents. The IBMA came to Raleigh to build the audience for Bluegrass. By that measurement the partnership has been successful beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. The festival is fun, popular, culturally enriching and generated millions in direct economic impact to Wake County. That’s why local organizers are strongly committed not only to keeping the festival going but to take steps that will make it even better than before.
“There’s something magical that happens when old friends get together to play music together. It’s an incredible thing to witness and is at the center of our plans for this sacrosanct weekend of music in Raleigh,” PineCone executive director David Brower said of the new event. “We’re excited for this new chapter of our region’s largest festival and look forward to dancing the late summer nights away with all our 100,000+ closest friends.”
WRAL NEWS 07/30/24
“We can broaden our cultural palate,” said Brower. “We still love bluegrass and will be fully committed, but it’s not going to be all that. We’re going to branch out…”
News & observer 09/27/23