FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — This year's Pilgrimage Festival is set to be an exciting one!
Headliners include Dave Matthews Band, Hozier, Noah Kahan and NEEDTOBREATHE.
Pilgrimage will revisit The Park at Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin on September 28 and 29 in its 10-year anniversary.
Rhori headed down to the festival site to talk to Better Than Ezra frontman Kevin Griffin, who dreamed up the idea for the music and cultural festival while out for a run on the farm more than ten years ago. He said the event isn't just about the stars, but also lesser-known artists working hard to exposure and more success.
"We want this to be a showcase for national headliners but also as an incubator for young artists. When my band Better Than Ezra was starting off at Jazz Fest in New Orleans — they would pick you to play a baby stage on a Thursday and it was a big deal. What we hope is that bands that we book on the smaller stages for Pilgrimage get to headline one day ," said Griffin. "You know there's artists like Devon Gilfillian and Colter Wall, Nikki Lane that were with us in the beginning. Look — year one, Chris Stapleton played on our 'Gold Record' stage — which is our second stage in the middle of the day and now he's headlining everywhere."
Curating a solid lineup takes a lot of advance planning — reaching out to artists almost a full year in advance. The overall goal: to attract diverse entertainers, offering something for everyone.
"Your first year — the thing you gotta get first they say is the 'meat' — that's the one artist that's going to attract other artists when no one knows what your festival is. Year one, that was Doctor John and Willie Nelson. You know now the 'meat' is the word of mouth and the history that this festival has, that people want to be a part of it."
2-Day GA passes, 2-Day VIP passes, Single Day GA passes, Single Day VIP passes and parking passes are available here .
There are still so many families in East Tennessee hurting following the floods from Hurricane Helene in September. That made this year's running of the Santa Train extra special for many families in the northeast part of the state. This special Santa Express has been making an annual run in part of Appalachia for over 80 years.
-Lelan Statom
