Carolina Music Festivals is a comprehensive calendar and guide to multi-act, daylong or multiple-day music festivals in North Carolina.
November 5 - 7 Mantrabash - Prospect Hill
Greensboro jam band The Mantras host a party of a festival, typically with several local, regional and national touring acts joining them. The festival also presents live painting and an art gallery. Mantrabash has been held at several locations and times of the year since 2010.
Artists
The Mantras (five sets), Brock Butler (Perpetual Groove), New Dawn Atarkestra (Jeff Sipe, Isaac Haddon, Rebekah Todd, Quinn Sternberg), Photon (feat. Neal Evans of Dopadoo), Ranford Almond, Elf Machine (ft. Mike Healy of Papadosio), Domocile, Elusive Groove, Buddhagraph Spaceship, Mellow Swells, Folkknot, Funkwondo.
Festival site: Possum Holler
11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Three-day pass (includes camping Thursday-Sunday): $153, $173.
Two-day pass (includes camping Friday-Sunday): $103, $128.
Daily: TBA.
Prices will increase with release of full lineup.
Tent camping free with ticket; RV camping is sold out.
November 6 - 7 Port City Blitz - Wilmington
The PortCity Blitz presents bands playing punk, metal, indie, roots, grunge, goth, ska, "and everything in between" on six stages, plus food trucks and the PCB Punk flea market featuring dark arts, crafts, oddities and funky junk. It's held at a craft brewery with a full bar, indoor restrooms and plenty of seating in the tap room and in the outdoors beer garden.
Artists
Friday: The RumJacks, Strike Anywhere, Gardens of..., Holyroller, The Explainers, Dial O, Strange Raven, Reason To Ignite, Mania For Conquest, Bedlam Hour, Bellbox, Top Cutters Union, Escape Velocity, Hyperloops, Kicking Bird, COLDeth, Bat Asterisks, Plastic Flamingos, Emergency Nothing, Tripodacus, Noisy By Design, Nervous Systems, Surf Devils, Speeding Kills Bears, Some Are Travlers.
Saturday: Corrosion of Conformity, Zodiac Panthers, Wolves X4, Rocket 77, Busted Radio, The Vibrolas, Cool Jerk, The Midnight Still, Why The Hell Knot, Small Doses, Billy Batts and the Made Men, Rockin Rollie, American Television, Anergy, Left Hand Hotdog, Forty-Two, Crooked Cult, Kult Ikon, 5ft Nuttin, The Knuckleheads, Scrooge Mandella, Eric Silman, Hailbop Astronauts, Blvckhndz, Infinitefreefall, Delia Stanley, Dave Strummer, 1 Hit Blunder, Petty Disasters, Michael Wwave, Wadous, Diomaticas Birth, Fox Noose, M.K. Clewis, Mugen.
Festival site: Waterline Brewing
4 to 10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.
Two-day pass: $99.34.
Friday: $48.87.
Saturday: $67.41.
November 14 GrassFed Music Festival - Nags Head
Organizers say "GrassFed started as a festival fueled by loud bluegrass, good company and real community." And, "The community is what keeps it alive, growing and better every year." 2026 is the festival's second year.
Artists
ShadowGrass, East Nash Grass, Broken Compass, Front Porch, Pickety Split, All She Wrote, Podunk Ramblers, Red Bud. Broken Compass also plays the after-party.
Festival site: Harvey Soundside Park (map), Village Beach Club (after-party)
Noon, gates open 11:30 a.m.; after party 11 p.m.
General Admission: $71.52; ages 5 to 12 $26.42, younger free.
VIP ("exclusive perks, premium viewing areas and added comforts"): $115.29.
After-party: $14.57.
November 14 BAD Day Music and Arts Festival - Wilmington
The one-day festival takes over Wilmington's Brooklyn Arts District (the BAD) for a full day and night of music, immersive art and vibrant culture. The day's street festival is to be followed by a separate late-night show at the Brooklyn Arts Center. For 2026, the festival's second year, organizers plan a larger main stage than 2025's, plus arts and crafts vendors, food trucks and other local food and drink vendorslive mural painting, large-scale art, participatory art activations, wellness/healing arts and lots of "creative surprises," as well as a BAD Kid Zone.
Artists
The Revivalists, Grace Potter, Greensky Bluegrass, Ripe, FutureBirds, Lady Die.
After Party: Deadtronica ft. Aron Magner of the Disco Biscuits + Cloudchord, Domocile.
Festival site: Brooklyn Arts District (map), Brooklyn Arts Center (after-party)
Noon, gates open 11:30 a.m.; after party 11 p.m.
General Admission: $149; four-pack $469.80 ($117.75 each), younger than 13 free.
VIP (special viewing area at the main stage, dedicated bars and bathrooms, more): Sold Out.
After-party: $24.75.
November 14 GrassFed Music Festival - Nags Head
Organizers say "GrassFed started as a festival fueled by loud bluegrass, good company and real community." And, "The community is what keeps it alive, growing and better every year." 2026 is the festival's second year.
Artists
ShadowGrass, East Nash Grass, Broken Compass, Front Porch, Pickety Split, All She Wrote, Podunk Ramblers, Red Bud. Broken Compass also plays the after-party.
Festival site: Harvey Soundside Park (map), Village Beach Club (after-party)
Noon, gates open 11:30 a.m.; after party 11 p.m.
General Admission: $71.52; ages 5 to 12 $26.42, younger free.
VIP ("exclusive perks, premium viewing areas and added comforts"): $115.29.
After-party: $14.57.
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