Dumplin Valley Bluegrass Festival
This event has finished for now. It runs again each year, and this page will be updated once the next dates are announced.
The Dumplin Valley Bluegrass Festival turns a working farm in Kodak into one of East Tennessee’s friendliest bluegrass weekends, and 2026 is the 26th year of it. Twelve bands play a covered stage across three days, parking is free, and the picking in the campground runs more or less continuously from the moment people start arriving. It sits just off I-40 at exit 407, about fifteen minutes from Sevierville and well under an hour from Gatlinburg.
The 2026 lineup
Four acts play each day, and most of them play twice, so missing an afternoon set is not the end of it.
- Thursday: Unspoken Tradition, Chris Davis Music, Jimbo Whaley & Greenbrier, The Kody Norris Show
- Friday: Cutter & Cash, The Little Roy & Lizzy Show, The Country Gentlemen Show, The Malpass Brothers
- Saturday: Carley Arrowood Music, Deeper Shade of Blue, Lonesome River Band, Pitney Meyer
How the days run
Music starts at noon Thursday and Friday and at 1 p.m. Saturday, then carries into the late evening with the last set beginning around 10. Each day breaks for supper: 4:30 to 6 on Thursday and Friday, 4 to 5:30 on Saturday. Food vendors work the grounds, and there is a cluster of restaurants back toward the interstate if you would rather leave and come back.
The performance area is under roof, so the festival goes ahead rain or shine. Seating is not provided. Bring a folding chair.
Tickets
You can buy for one day or for the whole run, and the math rewards staying:
- Any single day: $50
- Any two days: $90
- All three days: $130
Prices include tax and fees. Tickets are sold through the festival website, by phone, or at the gate on Settler’s Trail when you pull in. Nothing is mailed out, so online orders wait for you at will call at the entrance. Parking costs nothing either way. Prices come from the festival’s own ticket store and can change.
Camping
This is a campground festival first and a day-trip festival second, and a good share of the atmosphere lives in the sites rather than in front of the stage. Electric and water hookup sites start at $120 for a three-night minimum covering two adults on 30-amp service, with extra nights during festival week, 50-amp service and additional people charged on top. Primitive and tent camping runs $20 a night for two adults. Restrooms and showers are on site.
Reservations are required, and sites have been running through a wait list, so call ahead rather than arriving and hoping.
Before you go
No smoking, no pets and no glass containers inside the performance area. The organizers have also noted that for this year only there will be no Wednesday night potluck, which is normally part of the warm-up.
