A Murfreesboro tradition returns to Hop Springs this September as Uncle Dave Macon Days: A Roots Rendezvous celebrates its 2026 festival with three days of bluegrass, old-time, Americana and gospel music, contests, dancing and family-friendly entertainment. This year the festival will be bringing back its long-running instrument competitions.
The next chapter of Uncle Dave Macon Days is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 11 through Sunday, Sept. 13 at Hop Springs, 6790 John Bragg Hwy. Organizers describe the event as a continuation of Uncle Dave Macon Days’ longstanding mission of preserving and promoting American roots music while introducing those traditions to new generations.
The festival has come a long way since its beginnings on the Rutherford County Courthouse square in 1978. What began as a small banjo-picking contest grew into a much larger annual celebration at Cannonsburgh Village for decades, before moving in recent years to Hop Springs.
This year brings back one of the event’s signature attractions: the National Old-Time Banjo Championship Contest, scheduled for Saturday morning, along with competitions in bluegrass banjo, traditional fiddle, beginner musician, old-time singing, Dobro, mandolin, flat-pick guitar and shade tree pickin’ band. The National Old-Time Banjo Contest, recognized by Congress in 1986, is returning as part of the event’s continuing effort to preserve the clawhammer-style banjo tradition associated with Uncle Dave Macon.
“With the return of the National Old-time Banjo Contest, our festival acknowledges the significance of this distinctive Tennessee musical tradition, which continues to be celebrated by new generations of skilled musicians,” said Uncle Dave Macon Days President Gloria Christy. “Their efforts honor the enduring legacy of Dave Macon and his influence on American roots music, all within proximity to Uncle Dave’s original homeplace in the Kittrell Community.”
Uncle Dave Macon helped banjo music make the transition from rural folk life to modern country music, according to music historians. Macon became one of the first Grand Ole Opry superstars, paving the way for future country and bluegrass artists.
Macon spent much of his life in the rural Kittrell Community, just east of Murfreesboro. Before his popular musical career began, Uncle Dave made his living in that countryside by farming and operating a mule-and-wagon freight company between Murfreesboro and Woodbury. His line, known as the Macon Midway Mule and Mitchell Wagon Transportation Company, carried produce and supplies along the route. As he traveled from stop to stop, he sang, played banjo, swapped stories, and entertained the people he met, turning an ordinary workday into a kind of traveling performance, according to Uncle Dave Macon Days organizers. That experience helped the skilled banjo player shape the lively stage personality, comic timing, and old-time musical style that later drew mass audiences to him.
In 1925, Uncle Dave became one of the original members of the Grand Ole Opry and he continued performing well into his 70s.
The Roots Rendezvous festival remembers his musical and cultural legacy, bridging the gap between the old-time tunes from a century ago to modern-day takes on Americana and country styles.
Friday’s music begins with the MTSU String Band and the Cripple Creek Cloggers, followed by the Nashville-based Howlin’ Brothers, whose sound combines old-time bluegrass, roots, blues and Americana. The evening concludes with the Joey Fletcher Band, a Southern-rock and blues group led by slide guitarist Joey Fletcher.
Saturday offers a packed slate of instrument competitions, as well as numerous performances. Leroy Troy, the 1996 National Old-Time Banjo Champion whose star rose as a recurring performer on RFD-TV’s The Marty Stuart Show, will take the stage, as will the Noelle Goodin Band, Jackson Harris, Jake Leg Stompers and Monroeville. Jake Leg Stompers mix jug-band music, blues, ragtime, early jazz and Appalachian string-band sounds, while Monroeville brings together bluegrass, country and blues.
Sunday’s program shifts toward gospel, classic songwriting and community jamming, with Lisa Law‘s Gospel Showcase, Delyn Christian and the John Prine Tribute Band, and the Hop Springs Da Jam Band closing the festival.
The weekend also features an artisan village, named for Mary Matilda “Tildy” Richardson Macon, wife of Uncle Dave, highlighting essentials of Tennessee heritage: the home, hearth, garden, loom, quilt frame, and handmade objects that connected generations.
Matilda Macon was known in the community as a renowned quilter and tremendous cook whose work helped anchor the Macon family’s farm and home life in Kittrell. Festival visitors will be able to observe demonstrations in quilting, sewing, weaving, basketry, woodcraft, blacksmithing, soap making, food preservation, gardening, heritage cooking and related arts.
Uncle Dave Macon Days: A Roots Rendezvous also includes wagon rides pulled by mules, a farm animal petting zoo, and lots of other activities and food vendors.
Festival parking is $10 per car, but otherwise admission is free.
Those who would like to participate in the musical competitions can register on site on Saturday, Sept. 12.
Hop Springs is located at 6790 John Bragg Hwy., Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
For more information, visit rootsrendezvous.com.
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Roots Rendezvous
Sept. 11–13
Hop Springs
6790 John Bragg Hwy.
rootsrendezvous.com
2026 Uncle Dave Macon Days: A Roots Rendezvous
Friday, Sept. 11
Festival begins at 4:30 p.m.
Opening Ceremony
MTSU String Band with Cripple Creek Cloggers
Howlin’ Brothers
Joey Fletcher Band
Saturday, Sept. 12
Festival begins at 9 a.m.
National Old-Time Banjo Competition and Old Time Contests
Leroy Troy
Noelle Goodin Band
Jackson Harris
Jake Leg Stompers
Monroeville Band
Sunday, Sept. 13
Festival begins at 1 p.m.
Lisa Law’s Gospel Showcase
Delyn Christian and the John Prine Tribute Band
Da Jam Band
