18 days, 100-plus songwriters, campfire jams under the Hill Country stars, and a tradition that has launched Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle, and Robert Earl Keen — the Kerrville Folk Festival runs May 21 through June 7.
There are music festivals, and then there is Kerrville. The Kerrville Folk Festival is the longest continuously running music festival in the United States — 54 years of songwriters, stories, and the kind of community that forms when people who genuinely love music spend 18 days together on a ranch in the Texas Hill Country.
It runs May 21 through June 7, 2026, at Quiet Valley Ranch in Kerrville. And if you’ve never been, this is the year to go.
What It Is and Why It Matters
The Kerrville Folk Festival was founded by the late Rod Kennedy in 1972. For 18 straight days and nights, the festival offers concerts and activities for all ages focused on nurturing and developing artistic expression, especially the art of songwriting. Its mission is to promote public appreciation and support for songwriters, the songwriting craft, and the gift folk music offers the world.
The festival features more than 100 performing songwriters in intimate musical settings over 18 wonderful days and nights. That’s not a typo. Eighteen days. Three full weekends, two midweeks, and enough music to make you forget what day of the week it is — which is entirely the point.
The Schedule
The festival runs in five distinct stretches: Weekend One, May 21–24; Midweek One, May 25–28; Weekend Two, May 29–31; Midweek Two, June 1–4; and Weekend Three, June 5–7.
You can come for a single weekend or stay for the whole run. Most people who come once find themselves planning for more time the following year.
The 2026 Lineup
This year’s roster includes S.G. Goodman, Andy Frasco and The U.N., JJ Grey and Mofro, St. Paul and The Broken Bones, and Eddie 9V — a mix of Americana, soul, folk, and roots music that reflects how wide the Kerrville tent has always been. The full lineup spans emerging songwriters to established names, all sharing the same stages, the same campfire circles, and the same Hill Country air.
The New Folk Competition — Where Stars Are Born
Since 1973, the Grassy Hill New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters has been at the heart of the Kerrville Folk Festival’s mission to champion songwriters and their craft. More than just a contest, New Folk is a launching pad — a tradition that has introduced audiences to some of the most influential voices in American music. Over the years, artists like Lyle Lovett, Adrianne Lenker, Nanci Griffith, Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen, James McMurtry, Anaïs Mitchell, and Jonathan Byrd have stood on the New Folk stage early in their careers.
The 24 New Folk finalists perform at Threadgill Theater on Saturday, May 23 and Sunday, May 24. The six winners each receive $750 and a spot on the 2026 New Folk Winners House Concert Tour in Texas. When you watch New Folk, you are watching the future of American roots music before it becomes famous.
What the Experience Actually Feels Like
Kerrville is camping, community, and music woven together in a way that no other festival replicates. People set up camp at Quiet Valley Ranch and spend the days moving between stages, sitting in on workshops, joining informal campfire jams that start after the main stage closes and run until the sun comes up. A powerful community formed amongst festival attendees and ultimately became the member-based nonprofit called the Kerrville Folk Festival Foundation. There are people who have been coming to this festival every year since the 1970s. There are families where three generations show up together. It is all ages, all genres of folk and Americana, and entirely unlike anything else in Texas.
Plan Your Trip
Quiet Valley Ranch is about an hour northwest of San Antonio and two hours from Austin. Camping on-site is available and strongly recommended — the experience of waking up on the ranch in the Hill Country morning air is part of what makes Kerrville what it is. RV hookups are also available.
Event: 54th Annual Kerrville Folk Festival Dates: Thursday, May 21 through Sunday, June 7, 2026 Location: Quiet Valley Ranch, 3876 Medina Hwy., Kerrville, TX 78028
Weekend One: May 21–24 Midweek One: May 25–28 Weekend Two: May 29–31 Midweek Two: June 1–4 Weekend Three: June 5–7
All ages — camping and RV hookups available on site Website: kerrvillefolkfestival.org Facebook: Kerrville Folk Festival Instagram: @kerrvillefolkfestival
