Music Festivals in Tennessee 2027: Cave Stages, Plateau Bass and a Bristol Centennial

Tennessee keeps one of its festival stages inside a cave. At The Caverns in Grundy County, bands play in Big Mouth Cave while tents fill the fields outside, and a short drive across the Cumberland Plateau, a bass festival runs four stages with no curfew. In the northeast corner, a street festival spreads across a state line in the year the Bristol Sessions turn 100.

We design festival cloaks in Los Angeles. Below: the dates as posted on October 30, 2026, NOAA's night lows, then the clothes.

How does Tennessee's 2027 festival year shape up?

Tennessee's 2027 season runs from Knoxville's Big Ears (April 1–4) through Camp Cosmic (May 14–15), CMA Fest (June 10–13), Sound Haven (July 29–August 1) and Bristol Rhythm & Roots (September 10–12) to CaveFest (October 15–17). Mempho has claimed October for its tenth year, with days still to come, while Bonnaroo takes the year off to rest The Farm.

For the city weekends we borrow Nashville's airport readings (Knoxville and Bristol run cooler, Memphis warmer); Monteagle covers the two plateau grounds. Georgia, the Carolinas and Alabama fill our Southeast festivals guide, and the 2027 festival calendar lays out the whole year.

Cumberland Plateau weekends: cave stages and a bass farm with no curfew

Camp Cosmic: two nights of cosmic country underground (May 14–15)

Camp Cosmic hands The Caverns in Pelham to Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country on May 14–15, 2027. The band plays four full sets over the two days, plus an acoustic set in Shady Grove, with Magoo as special guests. After the cave shows, the Cosmic Circle Campground Pickin' Parties run late into the night, and the days add morning yoga, sound baths, a vendor village and tours of Big Room Cave.

Outfit note: Monteagle's normal May low is 53.8°F, so the walk to the campground pickin' circle calls for a hood and a lined cloak.

Sound Haven: four stages, one at a time, on a plateau farm (July 29–August 1)

Sound Haven returns to Jaceland in Tracy City on July 29–August 1, 2027, Thursday to Sunday. No sound ordinance applies at Jaceland, so the music runs through the night, and its four stages, the UFO mainstage among them, take turns instead of overlapping. G Jones, Boogie T and Detox Unit led the 2026 bill. The FAQ, still the 2026 edition, sets an 18+ rule and keeps parked cars in the campgrounds until the festival ends.

Outfit note: July at Monteagle averages 83.2°F by day and 64.8°F by night. Dance the afternoons sleeveless, and keep one warm layer at camp for the small-hours sets.

CaveFest: an amphitheater stage and a cave stage (October 15–17)

CaveFest is The Caverns' own fall festival of Americana, bluegrass and roots: October 16–17, 2027, with a kick-off party and early camping on Friday, October 15. Sets play on the amphitheater stage and inside Big Mouth Cave, plus an open underground jam session, cave yoga, a sound bath, guided cave tours and kids' activities. Two-day tickets include car camping.

Outfit note: at 46.7°F, Monteagle's October normal low, this is the list's coldest weekend. Bring a cloak for the walks between the cave and the field.

Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis: the city weekends

Big Ears: Knoxville's four-day listening festival (April 1–4)

Knoxville's Big Ears is back for April 1–4, 2027, with a lineup that leans electronic for a festival known for jazz and new music. Oneohtrix Point Never with Freeka Tet, Andy Stott, Mouse on Mars and Thundercat share the program with Mavis Staples and the Big Star Quintet, and a Ragamala program promises 12 hours of ragas.

Outfit note: April brings the coolest city nights here (Nashville's normal is 48.9°F; Knoxville runs cooler). A long cloak earns its place between late sets.

CMA Fest: four days of country in downtown Nashville (June 10–13)

CMA Fest has four-night stadium passes on sale already for its June 10–13, 2027 run in downtown Nashville. Our Galentine's story The Last Yes ends at a Nashville warehouse party.

Outfit note: June afternoons reach 87.7°F at Nashville's airport: a bucket hat and one breathable layer.

Mempho Music Festival: ten years in the Botanic Garden (October 2027)

Mempho marks its tenth anniversary in October 2027 at Radians Amphitheater in the 96-acre Memphis Botanic Garden, its home since 2021. The 2026 edition ran October 9–11, and its experience page featured the Incendia dome, a geodesic structure with flame effects across its ceiling and a silent disco inside.

Outfit note: Nashville's October normal low is 49.9°F, and Memphis sits a few degrees warmer: joggers and a cloak.

Bristol's 100th year and Bonnaroo's rest

Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion: one downtown, two states (September 10–12)

Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion fills historic downtown Bristol, Tennessee–Virginia, on September 10–12, 2027. Founded in 2001 and run by the nonprofit Birthplace of Country Music, it honors the 1927 Bristol Sessions, when Victor producer Ralph Peer recorded the commercial debuts of Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family. The 2027 festival celebrates the sessions' 100th year.

Outfit note: September afternoons stay warm, and nights cool toward Nashville's 61.8°F normal, several degrees lower in Bristol's hills. A bucket hat for the street, a cloak in the bag.

Bonnaroo: a rest year for The Farm

Bonnaroo is resting in 2027. Its team's letter says The Farm in Manchester, its main venue above all, has to rest a season after two stormy years in a row. Our Bonnaroo outfit guide keeps the packing list ready for when the gates reopen.

Plateau nights against Nashville nights

Monteagle sits about 1,250 feet above Nashville's airport, and NOAA's normals show the difference: from April to October its nights run 3.2 to 5.7 degrees cooler and its afternoons 5.7 to 7.7 degrees cooler.

Data from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 Climate Normals, Nashville International Airport (USW00013897) and Monteagle (USC00406162), read October 30, 2026.

Amber, copper and a red wolf: the Tennessee wardrobe

Our picks follow a plateau sunset: honey gold, copper and deep red, led by two cloaks.

A firebird for the cave weekends. The Golden Phoenix men's cloak ($250) works gold over black from collar to hem: filigree wings meet at the zipper under teal plumes, violet and blue feathers fan across both front panels, and gilded towers line the hem. On the back the bird spreads its wings, a green disc lit at its breast. Greek myth tied the phoenix to the Sun and had each one rise from its predecessor's ashes. Save it for CaveFest.

Either cloak's lining is faux fur, black or white as you choose at checkout, under a micro-mink polyester shell (200 g/m²). Two zipper pulls close the front, heavy drawstrings snug the hood, and of the four pockets, two sit deep at the sides and two hide inside, one with a zip. XS to 5XL, unisex.

Wolf red for an October garden. The Crimson Fenrir Wolf women's cloak ($250) drifts crimson smoke over black, with heavy chain links looping down the front and, at the chest, two pale crescents each cradling a dark red disc. On the back, the black wolf rises orange-eyed beneath a pale full moon. In the Prose Edda, only the silken fetter Gleipnir can hold Fenrir, a story these chains call to mind. Wear it to Mempho's anniversary weekend or Big Ears.

Gold light for Sound Haven afternoons. The Solar Eclipse men's sleeveless hoodie ($75) puts the eclipse on the chest three times: black discs haloed in gold sit above and beside a Flower of Life in pale blue, a gold coil loops through it, and teal, coral and green scrollwork spills toward the waist. Light 180 g/m² poly-spandex jersey, hooded, S–2XL: the hottest hours at Jaceland.

Shade for the downtown weekends. The Egyptian Atlantis bucket hat ($50) wraps deep navy in gold: panels of glyphs, a round emblem like a sundial and a sphinx resting along the band. In 275 g/m² polyester, sizes XS, S/M and L/XL, for CMA Fest's downtown days.

Warm legs for the October weekends. The Angel Catcher Red joggers ($100; $105 in 2XL, $108 in 3XL) carry a magenta hexagon in rose-pink scrolls at the thigh, framed by six-pointed stars, then white rosettes, a gold five-pointed star inside a circle and red-to-pink feathered wings down the shin, all on charcoal swirls. Brushed fleece faces the skin, 308 g/m², with side pockets and cuffed ankles, in a slim XS–3XL; order larger if thermals go underneath for CaveFest.

Cat ears in the CaveFest tent: the $150 hooded blanket

CaveFest's sound bath in Big Mouth Cave asks guests to "bring a mat or blanket"; ours has a hood. The hooded blanket ($150) is a pullover of 300 g/m² polyester fleece, one size (4XL), with cat ears, a quarter zip below the collar and a wide pocket; at 46.7°F it stays on until morning.

Order-by dates from Big Ears to Sound Haven

A cloak for Camp Cosmic is printed and sewn only after you order it: 7 to 11 business days with our partners, then 6 to 14 with the carrier. Five weeks of business days is our last call and six the easy date, both counted to the eve of each festival with weekends and federal holidays skipped.

• Big Ears (opens Thursday, April 1): easy date Wednesday, February 17; last call Wednesday, February 24.
• Camp Cosmic (opens Friday, May 14): easy date Thursday, April 1; last call Thursday, April 8.
• CMA Fest (opens Thursday, June 10): easy date Tuesday, April 27; last call Tuesday, May 4, with Memorial Day passed over.
• Sound Haven (opens Thursday, July 29): easy date Monday, June 14; last call Tuesday, June 22, around the June 18 and July 5 holidays.

Count Bristol and CaveFest back the same way; our 2027 order-by guide has 42 more festivals. Wearing a hoodie beneath? Our FAQ recommends one cloak size up, two for bulky layers. Sales are final; if your size is a toss-up, art@magusfawn.com reads measurements and replies. US orders from $70 up ship at no charge.

Hoods up outside Big Mouth Cave

We picture CaveFest ending like this: the last set in Big Mouth Cave lets out into cooler October air, headlamps bob toward the campground, and one by one the hoods go up. When your Tennessee weekends are done, our shortlist of must-attend 2027 festivals has the next road trip.

Tennessee picks by collection: men's cloaks · women's cloaks · sleeveless hoodies · bucket hats · joggers

Frequently asked questions

Is Riverbend still on hiatus?

Yes, as far as its official site shows. Riverbend, which began at Ross's Landing in Chattanooga in 1982, announced a hiatus for 2024 to reevaluate and restructure, and its home page still thanks fans for the 2023 festival. Nothing newer appears there, and no 2027 edition is announced.

Can you spin fire at Sound Haven?

Yes, in one place. Sound Haven's 2026 FAQ welcomes flow props and allows fire spinning only in the Open Fire Circle, from midnight to 4 a.m. Spinners bring their own fuel, props and fire-safe clothing (the cloak waits at camp) and sign a liability waiver. The 2027 festival runs July 29 to August 1.

Where do CaveFest guests camp?

On site at The Caverns. Every two-day ticket includes car camping, with one 20-by-20-foot site per vehicle rather than per person, and children 12 and younger are free. The 2027 festival runs October 16–17 in Pelham, with a separately ticketed kick-off party and early camping on Friday, October 15.

Is Bristol Rhythm & Roots in Tennessee or Virginia?

Both. The festival fills historic downtown Bristol, home to twin cities in two states: Bristol, Tennessee, and Bristol, Virginia, which Wikipedia says share "State Street as their main dividing line." The 2027 Reunion runs September 10–12 and marks 100 years since the 1927 Bristol Sessions, recorded on the Tennessee side.

Written by Magus & Lylyth Fawn, the Los Angeles artists behind Magus Fawn. Magus makes VR and digital visionary art and produces Psy EDM. Lylyth makes fractal digital art and runs design and customer care. We've been selling wearable art since 2020 (4.8★ from 147 reviews as of October 2026), and every piece is made to order here at magusfawn.com. Come say hi on Instagram @magusfawn.