Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival: Say Yes Now, Dance Later

It’s the same feeling as when that friend who throws great parties invites you over: You immediately say yes because every time you party with them, it’s a blast.

Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival is that friend to thousands of music fans who not only show up every Memorial Day Weekend, they buy tickets for the following year immediately after the festival ends.

For its first 12 years of existence, Rooster Walk launched ticket sales like most other festivals — after the first announcement of bands. But overwhelming data and anecdotal information (69% of patron survey respondents have attended multiple Rooster Walks) led them to try the innovative approach of offering Blind Faith admission tickets. When one year’s fest ends, patrons can hop online and buy admission tickets for the next year at the lowest prices they’ll be offered – up to a 30% discount off of gate prices.

“Freaking amazing festivals!” said Katie Powers, expressing the consistent patron sentiment that led to the Blind Faith experiment. “We’ve been to six Rooster Walks and I won’t miss one unless I’m dead.”

In three years of offering Blind Faith tickets, demand for the early adopter passes has increased each year. This year marks a 67% increase over 2024. That corresponds with a steady overall increase in ticket sales to Rooster Walk.

So what’s the big deal?

Quite simply, Rooster Walk has become the festival people trust. Attendees traveled there from 38 states and nine countries in 2025.

Pop’s Farm, RW’s home, is a gorgeous location in the Virginia foothills outside Martinsville. The site offers free primitive camping in seemingly limitless shady forest spaces, tons of available RV camping spots, pond-side glamping, and easy in and out for everyone. Wide concert lawns mean that there’s always room to let your festy flag fly without fighting crowds or having to stand far from the stage.

Rooster Walk’s family-friendliness is legendary: Mindful of the smallest music lovers, the festival provides children’s entertainment that feels integral, not just an on-site day care. Kid-specific performances (and even open mics!) along with a mammoth slip-and-slide and a children’s parade ensure that everyone can enjoy watching the kids have fun. Teens can get active with silent discos, ultimate frisbee, laser tag and badminton, or chill at a dedicated lounge.

With a four-day general admission ticket at around $200, Rooster Walk provides superior value compared to most other music festivals. At that price point, it also offers a holiday weekend getaway that’s a bargain compared to just about any other destination you could choose.

It’s no wonder that Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine named Rooster Walk as Best Music Festival in the mid-Atlantic in its annual reader poll—an honor earned despite the fact that RW is significantly smaller than the others in the running. “Great lineups and intimate, tight-knit vibes characterize this enduring jam-friendly fest,” Blue Ridge Outdoors wrote.

Unburying the lead

Those are big factors why Rooster Walk has grown slowly and steadily over a couple of decades. But the ultimate reason folks will purchase tickets early, bring along their camping gear, and smile, smile, smile for four straight days is the music. It starts with a year-in, year out reliable lineup of established and emerging bluegrass, jam, Americana, rock and funk bands.

This year, St. Paul and the Broken Bones headline, while moe., Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, Kitchen Dwellers, Keller Williams, Mountain Grass Unit, Eggy, Maggie Rose and Dumpstaphunk are guaranteed to entertain. See the full lineup and band schedule here.

Rooster Walk has also earned a reputation for innovation: from its House Band of regional artists creating a “you never know what might happen” vibe, to collaborations between performers, to Yarn’s festival-closing tribute set, the delightful surprises seem endless.

It’s impossible not to feel the love in the air at all times. That comes not just from the thoughtfulness put into crafting a great festival, it derives from Rooster Walk’s origins. The festival is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting music, arts, and education in Martinsville-Henry County. Its founders created the festival in memory of two dear childhood friends who died in their 20s: Edwin “the Rooster” Penn and Walker Shank. Themes of celebrating life and appreciating the present run through everything Rooster Walk does.

Proceeds go toward a college scholarship fund at Martinsville High School and to local and regional charities. There’s also a program that provides instruments to beginner musicians in entry-level school band programs in the city and county. To date, Rooster Walk has raised more than $378,000 for charity.

“It’s a laid-back yet high-energy big little festy in the hills,” said patron Angelia Sarver. “You are going to love it!”

Get your Rooster Walk 16 tickets.

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[Sponsored article: Rooster Walk is a JamBase partner.]