Top Nashville Music Festivals For 2022

CMA Fest is back with four days of jam-packed music featuring the top names in country music. Among the many performers headed to Nissan Stadium include Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Gabby Barrett, Dierks Bentley, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Alan Jackson, Lady A, Carly Pearce, Thomas Rhett, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and Zac Brown Band.

Enjoy two nights of camping and live music at this year’s Holla Yella Live Music Festival. Held along the Cartecay River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains at White Path Creek Farms, the lineup presents a variety of performers from bluegrass and beyond, including Old Crow Medicine Show, The Infamous Stringdusters, Sierra Ferrell and Saxsquatch.

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The W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival honors the life and legacy of “Father of the Blues,” William Christopher Handy. Fill up on tasty BBQ and live blues performances in Henderson’s scenic Audubon Mill Park, along with a Mardi Gras-style Street Strut, Street Strut 5K Run, handy lunch breaks and much more. Topping the 2022 lineup of musicians are Ghost Town Blues Band, Blood Brothers, Ronnie Baker Brooks and Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band

First held 20 years ago, Bonnaroo returns for another four days on the Bonnaroo Farm. Headliners Tool, Stevie Nicks, The Chicks and J. Cole top the 2022 lineup. Others performing include Billy Strings, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, The War On Drugs, Herbie Hancock, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Goose, Joy Oladokun, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Lettuce, Andy Frasco & The U.N., and more. Bleachers will produce this year’s SuperJam dubbed Jack Antonoff’s 1984.

Head out to Louisville Waterfront Park for Louisville Funk Fest. The single-day event will present performances by R&B favorites Jodeci, as well as a No Limit Reunion featuring Master P, Mystikal, Silkk The Shocker, Mia X, Fiend and Mr. Serv-On, plus appearances by Stokley, Carl Thomas and Tweet.

The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum hosts the 19th annual ROMP Festival at Daviess County’s Yellow Creek Park. See performances by Del McCoury Band, Punch Brothers, Leftover Salmon, Rhiannon Giddens, Marty Stuart And His Fabulous Superlatives, Tommy Emmanuel, Steep Canyon Rangers and many more. Other offerings include workshops for songwriting, clogging, flat-foot dancing, bluegrass jamming 101 and more, plus organic and farm-to-table food vendors, craft vendors featuring Kentucky Proud products, art installations and professionally-led children’s activities.

Terrapin Hill Farm welcomes back the third annual Rislofest for two days of live music, art, vending and more in celebration of the life of Ryan Alexander Risley. The lineup featuring progressive jamgrass bands along with soul and rock includes Born Cross Eyed, Magnolia Boulevard, Restless Leg String Band, Vessel, Hot Brown Smack Down, Mama Said String Band, Dark Moon Hollow, Lemon Grass, Nectar Valley, The Good Gals, Lonesome Holler, Mikey Quigley and Friends, Family Dog and Moonlight Mile. A portion of proceeds from tickets will go to the Ollie Copelands College Fund.

The 29th annual Master Musicians Festival once again brings many talented performers to the Lake Cumberland region. Among those headed to Somerset Community College for MMF 2022 includes Grace Potter, The Wood Brothers, Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, Rayland Baxter, Boy Named Banjo, John R. Miller, Bendigo Fletcher, Leah Blevins and SG Goodman.

The aptly named Subterranea delves into The Caverns for two days, marking the first festival to offer on-site camping at the renowned underground venue. Host band Papadosio will deliver four sets with additional performances by SunSquabi, Doom Flamingo, lespecial, Cloudchord, Axel Thesleff, Brether, Dizgo, EarthCry, Electrochemical, Evanoff and more. The festival also boasts live art, yoga workshops, sound baths, cave tours and food trucks.

Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors host another installment of the Moon River Music Festival. The National and Leon Bridges headline the two-day event at Coolidge Park. The lineup also consists of Band Of Horses, Local Natives, Zach Bryan, Greensky Bluegrass, Lucius, Charley Crockett, Keb’ Mo’, Hiss Golden Messenger and more.

A New World awaits at this year’s Imagine Music Festival. Top EDM acts abound with a lineup consisting of Excision, GRiZ, Kaskade, Air2earth, Ganja White Night, Gorgon City, Liquid Stranger, Madeon, San Holo and Subtronics, to name just a few of the dozens of others appearing at the event.

Bourbon & Beyond, the world’s largest bourbon and music festival, will be back at Louisville’s Highland Festival Grounds at Kentucky Exposition Center after two years off in the wake of the pandemic. On the music side, the stacked lineup includes Pearl Jam, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Jack White, Alanis Morisette, Kings Of Leon, Father John Misty, Jason Isbell & 400 Unit, Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real, Courtney Barnett, The Revivalists, Japanese Breakfast, Greta Van Fleet, St. Vincent, Crowded House, The Doobie Brothers, Marcus King, YOLA and several others. On the burbon side, The Bard Distillery, Bluegrass Distillers and Boundary Oak Distillery are just a few of the craft distilleries that will be offering their bourbons.

Louder Than Life lights up Highland Festival Grounds for four days filled with music. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails and KISS top the lineup which also features Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, Alice In Chains, Incubus, Papa Roach, Bring Me The Horizon, Evanescence, Halestorm, Tenacious D, Yungblud, Highly Suspect, Shinedown, Lamb Of God, Mastodon, In This Moment, Meshuggah, Clutch, GWAR, Helmet, Chevelle, Ghostemane, Jerry Cantrell and plenty of other acts. In addition to music, festivalgoers can enjoy whiskey, bourbons, spirits, craft beer and food from the Louisville area.

The eighth annual Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival returns to The Park at Harlinsdale Farm for two days of Americana and more. Performing across the fest’s five stages will be Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, Jon Batiste and The Avett Brothers, as well as Trampled by Turtles, Dawes, Lake Street Dive, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Elle King, Lennon Stella, Better Than Ezra, Marty Stuart, Celisse, Butch Walker, Black Joe Lewis, Adia Victoria, Yasmin Williams, Bones Owens, Brittney Spencer and Jensen McRae, among several others.

MEMPHO Music Festival takes over Radians Amphitheater at Memphis Botanic Garden for the fifth annual three-day event. Widespread Panic (two nights), The Black Keys, Wilco and Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit are atop this year’s MEMPHO lineup. Additional acts slated to appear include Portugal. The Man, Fantastic Negrito, Tank and the Bangas, Allison Russell and Celisse.

Jason Isbell‘s ShoalsFest returns with a lineup headlined by Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit and Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats. The Isbell-curated event held at McFarland Park also features Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Drivin’ n’ Cryin’, Amanda Shires, John Moreland, Danielle Ponder, John Paul White and Gary Nichols.

The Moonshiner’s Ball returns to Rockcastle Riverside for four days of music, paddling expeditions, distilling workshops, food trucks, kids activities and yoga. The lineup for the seventh annual event consists of Lucinda Williams, Ian Noe, Andy Frasco and The U.N., Dustbowl Revival, Kitchen Dwellers, Buffalo Wabs & the Price Hill Hustle, S.G. Goodman, Eggy, That 1 Guy and more.

Dig in to CaveFest this fall at The Volunteer State’s famed The Caverns. The two-day camping event will see performances at the above ground amphitheater by Sam Bush, Leftover Salmon, The Infamous Stringdusters, Yonder Mountain String Band, Rising Appalachia, Jim Lauderdale, Kitchen Dwellers, The Lil Smokies, Sierra Hull, Lindsay Lou, Rumpke Mountain Boys, Larry Keel Experience and Kendall Street Company among others. The Caverns’ world-famous underground concert hall will play host to daily jam sessions, cave yoga and more.