Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival Announces Return in April

The Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in Franklin, Tenn., will return in 2027 following a hiatus this year.

After traditionally taking place in September since 2015, the festival moves to April for 2027 and is scheduled for April 10-11 at The Park at Harlinsdale Farm. “We are so back!” read a statement from the festival Instagram page. Organizers have not yet announced a lineup.

In March, the festival announced a 2026 hiatus through an Instagram video announcement stating, “11 years of memories, of magic, of music…now something new is blooming.” The video caption added, “New sights, new sounds, new surprises! This move will allow us to bring you the best festival experience. We can’t wait to see you next year!”

The 2025 festival took place Sept. 27-28 and featured a lineup led by Kings of Leon, John Mayer, Turnpike Troubadours, American Aquarium, Better Than Ezra, and Sam Barber.

Better Than Ezra frontman Kevin Griffin launched the festival in 2015 alongside cofounders Brandt Wood and Michael Whelan. The inaugural lineup featured Cage The Elephant, Willie Nelson, The Decemberists, Sheryl Crow, and Wilco.

Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival typically blends country, folk, rock, blues, and Americana music. Past performers include Chris Stapleton, Zach Bryan, Foo Fighters, The Lumineers, Brandi Carlile, and Jack White.

Griffin told Billboard at the festival’s launch that New Orleans Jazz Fest provided his inspiration.

“Jazz Fest has huge tents on the main stages that look unlike any other festival. It has a very bucolic, rural look to it and we’re taking that idea,” Griffin said at the time. “All the partners in Pilgrimage grew up in New Orleans going to Jazz Fest and having gone to a lot of festivals around the country and world I realized that model of a multi-genre day festival with a big emphasis on food and drinks and art really wasn’t done the way Jazz Fest does it. It hadn’t been done many places outside New Orleans. So that was really the emphasis behind Pilgrimage.”