Biscuits & Banjos - Rhiannon Giddens’ first-ever festival - unfolded over this past weekend in Durham, N.C. The sold-out festival of Black music, art and culture offered a one-of-a-kind bespoke festival experience for fans, and was created to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Black Banjo Gathering, celebrating the legacy of the event that launched Giddens’ career and the formation of her band, the Carolina Chocolate Drops. On Saturday night, the Carolina Chocolate Drops played their first show together in a decade, and Giddens debuted her new band, The Old-Time Revue, which will now embark on a major U.S. tour that includes Hollywood Bowl with Steve Martin, Our Native Daughters and more (“that promises to be the roots music event of the year” says Variety), and Central Park Summerstage in June. Giddens and her Chocolate Drops bandmate Justin Robinson also just released a new album of old-time North Carolina tunes - What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow (Nonesuch).
The festival—which will return in 2027—included over 20 music performances at multiple venues in Downtown Durham, as well as lectures, workshops, readings, free banjo lessons and the Biscuit Trail, showcasing Durham’s thriving culinary scene by featuring biscuit-inspired dishes from seven local restaurants throughout the weekend. Adding a touch of friendly competition, the participating restaurants went head-to-head in a biscuit competition, with Giddens serving as one of the judges.
Free programming throughout the weekend included musical performances, artist panels, a walking tour and film screenings, with topics ranging from Black voices in country music to the relationship between food and storytelling. In addition, the festival screened a live telecast of Saturday night’s headlining concert for free at Downtown Durham’s Lot 20 (the festival’s hub), enabling the Durham community to experience the historic reunion of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. See below for daily highlights.
Friday: The Festival kicked off with Rissi Palmer’s Color Me Country Revue, followed by performances from Demeanor, Adia Victoria, Christian McBride with NCCU Jazz Ensemble I, Dom Flemons, Niwel Tsumbu and Charly Lowry. Other programming throughout the day included a celebration of 10 years of Alice Randall’s Soul Food Love, a panel on the lineage of art-making and collective activism, and more. The day culminated with a “Friday Night Frolic” square and line dance featuring live music from Rhiannon Giddens & Friends (including Justin Robinson, Jake Blount and Dirk Powell), followed by a headlining set from Taj Mahal and Leyla McCalla at the Carolina Theater.
Saturday: Saturday’s programming included free banjo lessons, panels on Black voices in country music (with Giddens, Rissi Palmer, and Alice Randall), Black String Band history, cultivating legacy through farming and sustainability, the Art of the Biscuit and more. The performance lineup featured Buffalo Nichols, Hubby Jenkins, Joy Clark, Amythyst Kiah, New Dangerfield, Toshi Reagon, Shana Tucker, Infinity Song, Yasmin Williams and more. Then on Saturday night, Carolina Chocolate Drops reunited for the first time in over a decade at the Durham Performing Arts Center. The anticipated show, which was livestreamed with Veeps and outside at Downtown Durham’s Lot 20, also included performances from New Dangerfield and Niwel Tsumbu, plus the debut of Rhiannon’s new band, The Old-Time Revue.
Sunday: The final day of the festival featured a Sunday morning gospel set with the Legendary Ingramettes, a performance by Bittersweet Brass Band, and community programming which included a “NC Roots & Rhythms” program presented by the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and free banjo lessons.
The festival’s online store is still live, offering exclusive Biscuits & Banjos merchandise line: https://stores.portmerch.com/biscuitsandbanjos/
Biscuits & Banjos is a non-profit, community responsive festival. Funding for Biscuits & Banjos is made possible in part by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, the Ford Foundation, Warner Music Group & Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund, Duke Arts and Duke Community Affairs, 21c Museum Hotel, Harper House Music Foundation, Biscuitville, Danielle Rose Paikin Foundation, Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, North Carolina Humanities, the City of Durham, Durham County, North Carolina Arts Council, Blue Ridge Music Center, the Hello in There Foundation, American Tobacco Campus, Bull City Burger and Brewery, Deering Banjos, Discover Durham, Durham Arts Council, the Durham Hotel, Red Light Management, Elderly Instruments, M4 Media, Old Hillside Bourbon, Proximity Brewing Company, Southern Documentary Fund, Sugarlands Distilling Company, Unscripted Durham, and many generous individual donors and community partners.
Unmanageable, a 501(c)3 organization, is Biscuits & Banjo’s non-profit producing partner. Donations to support Biscuits & Banjos are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Donate: https://www.biscuitsandbanjos.com/donate.
