Sometimes, when everything comes together, a music festival can feel just right.
Rooster Walk 15 experienced a Goldilocks weekend this year as pristine spring weather, a killer lineup, and an enthusiastic crowd combined for an incredibly satisfying Memorial Day weekend in the Virginia piedmont.
Modern bluegrass heroes Trampled By Turtles headlined the festival on Saturday night in front of a large, jubilant audience, and psychedelic funk jam collective Lettuce put an exclamation point on the evening with their midnight performance.
On Sunday, Americana rockers Yarn closed out Rooster Walk with their now traditional tribute set. This year, “Neil Yarng” featured the band leaning into one of their main influences, cranking out Neil Young classics. Yarn was joined by frequent collaborator Shane Spaulding and musicians from Sol Driven Train, Dangermuffin, and the Rooster Walk House Band.
Thousands of patrons enjoyed four days of music, food, camping, outdoor adventures, visual art, kids’ activities and living in the moment. Of course, music was the focus, and the musicians felt the love and responded with standout sets. Genre-fluid serial collaborator Keller Williams played with the House Band; pop-rock-soul pranksters Andy Frasco and the U.N. brought their high-energy party; Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country blew minds with their blend of country, virtuoso guitar rock and spacey Grateful Dead-type explorations; and melodic hip-hoppers Little Stranger threw down their rhymes.
The House Band was everywhere, playing a Jerry Garcia set on Thursday, an eclectic performance on Friday, and backing Keller Williams on Saturday, while popping up in multiple sets by other artists. RW House Band Singer Florencia Rusiñol and guitarists Isaac Hadden and Kyser George also performed with their own bands, while keyboard player Josh Shilling and jam band drum pioneer Jeff Sipe guested with many other groups. Guitarist Wallace Mullinax and bassist Jake Dempsey rounded out the excellent House Band lineup.
Other Rooster Walk 15 highlights included:
- Charlottesville, Va.-based Ramona and the Holy Smokes’ Mexi-tonk sets mashing up Mexican folk music and honky-tonk
- Town Mountain’s and Hogslop String Band’s high-energy bluegrass mixed with rock and Americana
- Ghost-Note twisting up hip-hop, funk and jazz in their late-night set
- Deau Eyes (singer Ali Thibodeau from Richmond) performing three sets ranging from rock to an intimate acoustic brunch performance
- Kendall Street Company, a Charlottesville band channeling Frank Zappa, telling jokes throughout their set and eventually claiming to be a German rock group called Sauerkraut
- Sneezy’s uproarious funk and dance music, infused with a touch of vulnerability as they played a new ballad memorializing a band member who passed away
On that theme of memorials, Rooster Walk’s mantra is “appreciate the present.” The festival was born after two of the founders’ childhood friends, Edwin “the Rooster” Penn and Walker Shank, died in their mid-20s.
Proceeds from Rooster Walk go toward the Penn-Shank Memorial Scholarship Fund, a college scholarship at their alma mater, Martinsville High School. Revenue also benefits RW’s Music Instrument Program, which refurbishes old band instruments and donates them to entry-level band programs in the Martinsville City and Henry County public school systems. Rooster Walk has raised more than $350,000 for these programs and other local and regional charities.
Rooster Walk 16 is scheduled for May 21-24, 2026. There’s no lineup available yet, so tickets are on sale now at “early bird” prices.
Artists Love Rooster Walk
“It’s just so comfortable and like, homey and family vibes. It feels like we’re coming to a place where people just really appreciate us and really appreciate this community. It feels like a place where you can just relax if you want. Really, really awesome.”
—Dan Sivilli, Dangermuffin
“We’ve been having so much fun, being out in the sunshine. The weather’s beautiful. All the stages feel like you’re just in the middle of a fairy garden, like a nature fortress. I love it so much. We’re really pumped to be here.”
—Ali Thibodeau, Deau Eyes
“Rooster Walk is incredibly special to us because it was the first festival that booked us. The first time we played here, we had no idea what to expect. We just felt the love instantly. When you play music here, people actually emulate love, and it’s just a reciprocal cycle. We feel it, and then we play with more love.”
—Brett O’Connor, Sneezy
“We’re going to be spoiled as hell after this because everybody has been so kind, so attentive to our needs. It’s been so nice and just like the vibes in general, the people—not only attending the festival, but also working—are so lovely and I've been extremely comfortable the whole time.”
—Ramona Martinez, Ramona and the Holy Smokes
“They’re our friends. I’m trying to figure out how it got so deep so quickly. I can't be thankful enough.”
—Blake Christiana, Yarn
“It’s a great vibe overall, beautiful area. Really good energy. People are fun, laid back. One of my favorite memories was like an acoustic jam on top of the hill, around a fire. We were going just like all night.”
—Louis Smith, Kendall Street Company
