The Joe Val Bluegrass Festival Returns

February 12-15, 2026!

The Boston Bluegrass Union is thrilled to announce the return of the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival! Mark your calendars now for President’s Day weekend, February 12-15, 2026, at the Sheraton in Framingham, MA. Celebrate the return of this beloved tradition as we commemorate:

• The 40th anniversary of the inaugural Joe Val memorial
• The 50th anniversary of the founding of the BBU
• and the 100th anniversary of Joe Val’s birth!

We’re very excited to announce that the 2026 festival will be expanding to start on Thursday night with an All-Star concert, 24 hours of jamming, and workshops all day Friday. It’ll be like adding a full day of JamVal before Joe Val even begins!

Then on Friday night, we’ll return to the full festival with top-tier bands on the Main Stage, plus the Showcase Stage, Kids’ Academy, workshops, and round-the-clock jamming continuing throughout the weekend.

On-site rooms will be distributed in the fall through the lottery system. Check your BBU membership status or join today at bbu.wildapricot.org. Keep up to date on our website, Facebook, or Instagram.

First wave of bands announced on Oct 8! The Gibson Brothers, Danny Paisley, Special Consensus and more!

Find out more about Joe Val, the person.

Check out the Heritage Awards.

In the meantime, enjoy these photos and videos of past Joe Val Festivals. Photos courtesy of Dave Hollender.

There are a lot of videos on YouTube. Here is a sampling to get your toes tapping.