MerleFest

Wilkesboro · US

Four-day roots festival on the Wilkes Community College campus in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, founded 1988 in memory of Eddy Merle Watson and running 12 stages; it is the primary fundraiser for the WCC Foundation. Note for pitching artists: MerleFest states plainly that it selects talent through its Artist Relations Team and does not accept or respond to unsolicited submissions by email, voicemail or post. Its long-running Chris Austin Songwriting Contest — judged by a Nashville panel across bluegrass, country, gospel and general categories — has historically been the one route in for writers, but no live entry page was on merlefest.org when we last checked.