{"id":277301,"date":"2025-10-09T10:59:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T14:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/livemusicblog.com\/?p=277301"},"modified":"2025-11-18T12:57:57","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T17:57:57","slug":"wintergrass-2026-lineup-rad-trad-bellevue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/livemusicblog.com\/wintergrass-2026-lineup-rad-trad-bellevue\/","title":{"rendered":"Wintergrass Music Festival 2026 Returns Feb 19\u201322 with a Rad Trad Lineup Featuring New Dangerfield, V\u00e4sen, Woody Platt & More in Bellevue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wintergrass 2026 promises a vibrant fusion of legacy and innovation, transforming Bellevue\u2019s Hyatt Regency into a haven for roots music lovers. With its \u201cRad Trad\u201d theme, the festival showcases over 30 acts that span bluegrass, folk, Celtic, and global traditions\u2014each pushing boundaries while honoring the past. From immersive workshops to spontaneous jam sessions, this four-day celebration invites fans to experience tradition in motion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a press release, Wintergrass Music Festival organizers disclosed that tickets (for the 2026 edition) are on sale now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s Rad Trad focus explores the many ways tradition can be expressed\u2013\u2013from bluegrass to old-time, polska to folk, Celtic, and beyond. Through its diverse lineup, Wintergrass 2026 pays homage to timeless musical roots while spotlighting the artists who are fearlessly redefining them for a new generation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since its debut in 1994, Wintergrass<\/a> has stood as one of the nation\u2019s premier \u201cdiscovery\u201d festivals\u2013\u2013a junction where both legacy and innovation invite attendees to explore music through more than just sound\u2013\u2013engaging sight, touch, and movement through hands-on workshops, instrument exhibits, vibrant stages, and jam sessions. Set within the urban comfort of downtown Bellevue, the four-day festival transforms the Hyatt Regency into a lively, multi-stage sanctuary for musicians and music-lovers alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among those torchbearers are New Dangerfield, a Black stringband supergroup comprising award-winning banjoist Tray Wellington, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Ka\u00efa Kater, bassist Nelson Williams (of Chris Jones & the Night Drivers fame), and fiddler and singer Jake Blount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other standouts include\u00a0Woody Platt & The Bluegrass Gentlemen\u00a0(Platt, being a former and founding member of the legacy bluegrass outfit Steep Canyon Rangers), singer, songwriter, and double bassist\u00a0Melissa Carper, whose storied career spans decades of genre-spanning collaborations and a deep dedication to preserving and evolving traditional acoustic music, Swedish trad\/folk duo\u00a0V\u00e4sen, whose virtuosic blend of nyckelharpa, electric bass viola, and violoncello da spalla pushes the boundaries of Scandinavian roots music, and\u00a0Missy Raines & Allegheny, led by the iconic bassist and IBMA award-winner whose innovative approach and decades-long career have helped shape the sound of contemporary bluegrass<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTradition is good\u2013\u2013it gives us a place to hang our hats,” shares Patrice O\u2019Neil, Executive + Artistic Director for Wintergrass. \u201cBut it\u2019s an ever-evolving, slippery thing. We like to think this lineup offers both comfort and feel-your-way-in-the-dark discovery moments. Rad Trad means being open to radical interpretations of just exactly how to balance old and new.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scenes from Wintergrass 2025<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Never Come Down 07 02-21-25 Wintergrass 2025<\/div><\/div>
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