38th Annual Burkes Garden Festival Brings Music to Virginia's Garden Spot
Some places in Southwest Virginia don't need much introduction. Burkes Garden is one of them. On Saturday, September 26, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., the 38th Annual Burkes Garden Festival returns for another day celebrating the people, traditions, crafts, food, and mountain culture that make this remarkable corner of Tazewell County unlike anywhere else.
And this year, Wayfarer Appalachia is proud to sponsor the festival's live music.
A Saturday in the Garden
Often called "God's Thumbprint," Burkes Garden is one of Southwest Virginia's most recognizable landscapes, surrounded by mountains and shaped by generations of farming, families, and rural Appalachian life.
For 38 years, the Burkes Garden Festival has given people another reason to make the drive into the valley, slow down for a while, and experience a community tradition that feels right at home in its surroundings.
It is the kind of event where the setting is every bit as much a part of the day as what happens once you arrive. And naturally, a day like that needs music.
Live Music Sponsored by Wayfarer Appalachia
At Wayfarer, we believe live music belongs wherever people gather. Our stages on Historic Main Street in Tazewell regularly bring together local musicians, regional performers, and Nashville songwriters. Still, some of the best Appalachian music experiences happen when you take the music outside and put it right back into the landscape that helped shape it.
That is why we are excited to sponsor the live music lineup for the 38th Annual Burkes Garden Festival. The music begins at 10:00 a.m. and continues throughout the afternoon.
Sean Blackwell — 10:00 a.m.
Sean Blackwell starts the day at 10:00 a.m., bringing live music to the festival as Burkes Garden settles into a full Saturday morning of visitors, vendors, and community.
It is a fitting way to begin the soundtrack for the day: music surrounded by one of Virginia's most distinctive mountain landscapes.
Brooke Foster & Chris Myers — 11:30 a.m.
At 11:30 a.m., Brooke Foster and Chris Myers take the stage.
It is another opportunity to hear music rooted close to home and to experience the kind of intimate, authentic performance that has always been an important part of Appalachian gatherings.
Grab something to eat, find a place to settle in, and enjoy the music.
Bluestone Bluegrass Band — 1:00 p.m.
Then at 1:00 p.m., the Bluestone Bluegrass Band brings bluegrass into the Garden.
Few combinations make more sense than bluegrass music, a September afternoon and Burkes Garden.
The sound, the mountains and the setting come together in a way that reminds us that Appalachian music isn't simply something we preserve from the past. It is still being played, shared and experienced right here at home.
Music Is Part of the Place
Wayfarer Appalachia was built around a simple idea: good food, good music and genuine Appalachian hospitality have a way of bringing people together. We see that happen inside the Velvet Room, out on the Starlight Porch and in the Crossroads Saloon. But we also believe in taking that same spirit beyond our own doors and supporting the traditions and events that make Tazewell County worth experiencing.
The Burkes Garden Festival is one of those traditions. Sponsoring live music is our way of contributing to a festival that has been bringing people together for nearly four decades while helping ensure live music remains part of the experience.
Make a Day of It in Tazewell County
If you have never made the trip into Burkes Garden, festival Saturday is a pretty good excuse. Come for the scenery. Walk through the festival. Meet the people. Explore the vendors. Have something good to eat. And stay for the music.
38th Annual Burkes Garden Festival
Saturday, September 26, 2026
9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Live Music Schedule — Sponsored by Wayfarer Appalachia
10:00 a.m. — Sean Blackwell
11:30 a.m. — Brooke Foster & Chris Myers
1:00 p.m. — Bluestone Bluegrass Band
Thirty-eight years is a long time for a community tradition to endure. Maybe that is because some things never really go out of style: mountains, neighbors, handmade things, good food and live music drifting across a September afternoon.
We'll see you in the Garden.
