Article Contributed by Shore Fire Media
Published on 2026-03-29
Photo Credit: Karen Cox
Rhiannon Giddens has announced free programming for the one-year anniversary of Biscuits & Banjos in Durham, North Carolina, anchored by a full day of community events on Sunday, April 26, 2026 at The Fruit. The anniversary weekend will culminate on April 27 with Biscuits & Banjos Presents: Rhiannon Giddens’ Beloved Community at DPAC, featuring Giddens and her band with special guests Mavis Staples, Blind Boys of Alabama, Rissi Palmer, and Toshi Reagon.
The newly announced April 26 programming reflects the spirit at the heart of Biscuits & Banjos: a celebration of music, memory, community, scholarship, and cultural exchange. Taking place primarily at The Fruit, the day will feature conversations, performances, readings, dancing, and literary programming designed to bring artists, audiences, and Durham community members together in a shared space of reflection and joy. RSVP is required for all free events at The Fruit.
Among the day’s highlights are Color Me Country x Beloved Community: a songversation between Rissi Palmer and Kamara Thomas; a conversation and performance featuring Toshi Reagon, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, and Destiny Hemphill; Rhiannon Giddens and Kristina R. Gaddy in conversation around their book Go Back and Fetch It; a celebration of 50 years of Edna Lewis’ The Taste of Country Cooking, with Michael Carter Jr., an activist around African American contributions to Southern agriculture; a Dip Family Reunion event with North Carolina chef and author Spring Council; a Durham County Public Library Bookmobile with specially curated books for checkout; and an Evening Frolic, a line and square dance with music from Jake Blount, Justin Robinson, Rhiannon Giddens, Jason Sypher, and Demeanor, with calling by Phil Jamison and line dance song selection by Malinda D. Evans.
The release follows a series of recent free community engagements tied to Giddens’ Silkroad Ensemble tour, Sanctuary: The Power of Resonance and Ritual, which brought meals, dances, and communal gatherings to cities including Bowling Green, Chicago, Oakland, and Fairfax. It also arrives ahead of a busy season for Giddens that includes the May 5 release of her new book, Color Me Country: A Celebration of Black Women Who Shaped Country Music, as well as her upcoming spring/summer tour that includes American Tunes: Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing, a special concert presentation featuring Mavis Staples, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Hurray for the Riff Raff.
The 2025 Biscuits & Banjos festival was a sold-out, multi-venue celebration of Black music, art, food, and culture that drew widespread acclaim in Durham and beyond. Created to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the landmark Black Banjo Gathering that helped launch Giddens’ career and led to the formation of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, the inaugural edition featured more than 20 performances, free community programming, workshops, readings, banjo lessons, and the Biscuit Trail, which spotlighted Durham’s culinary scene.
Its centerpiece — the Carolina Chocolate Drops’ first reunion performance in over a decade — became a defining moment of the weekend, while coverage from The New York Times underscored the festival’s larger cultural impact, highlighting its cross-generational lineup, joyful atmosphere, and vision of cultural renaissance rooted in Black creativity, community, and tradition. With the upcoming April 26 free programming and April 27 DPAC concert, Beloved Community extends Giddens’ long-running commitment to creating spaces where roots music, cultural memory, and collective experience can meet.
For more information, please visit biscuitsandbanjos.com/community-programming.
Biscuits & Banjos “Beloved Community” Schedule — Sunday, April 26, 2026
The Fruit | 305 S Dillard St, Durham, NC 27701
RSVP required for all events at The Fruit:
Reserve Here
10:30 AM
Color Me Country x Beloved Community: A songversation between Rissi Palmer and Kamara Thomas
12:00 PM
Dip Family Reunion event with chef and author Spring Council
Curated by BEM | books and more
1:30 PM
Toshi Reagon, Alexis Pauline Gumbs and Destiny Hemphill in conversation and performance
1:30–5:30 PM
Bookmobile
Courtesy of Durham County Public Library
3:00 PM
Kristina Gaddy x Rhiannon Giddens: Go Back and Fetch It – A Book Talk and Signing
4:30 PM
50 Years of The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis
Curated by BEM | books and more
8:00–10:00 PM
Evening Frolic: a line and square dance
Music from Jake Blount, Justin Robinson, Rhiannon Giddens, Jason Sypher, and Demeanor
Calling by Phil Jamison
Line dance song selection by Malinda D. Evans
