Amelia Meath's plainspoken hooks over Nick Sanborn's modular synth pulses: Durham electronic pop that clicks in a club and still sings in a field.
Good Moon 2026 Lineup
Sylvan Esso's hometown festival, back after a year off: three headline nights at DPAC, a free Saturday matinee, and late shows in three downtown rooms.
Find the acts you'll love at Good Moon
Name a few bands you love and we'll scout all 31 acts on the Good Moon bill for the ones you shouldn't miss.
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Set times are out for Good Moon 2026. Save any act and it lands on your day-by-day plan, with overlapping sets flagged so you can see what you would miss. No account needed to start.
About Good Moon 2026
Good Moon is Sylvan Esso's own festival, run with their Psychic Hotline label, and after skipping 2025 it comes back October 8 to 10, 2026 in a new shape. The ballpark editions at Historic Durham Athletic Park and, in 2024, Durham Bulls Athletic Park are gone; this year the base of operations is the Durham Performing Arts Center, with three headline nights there (Sylvan Esso on Thursday and Saturday, Tyler Childers on Friday, doors 6, show 7), and everything else within a walk of it downtown.
Each DPAC night pairs the headliner with one special guest: Meshell Ndegeocello on Thursday, the poet aja monet before Tyler Childers on Friday, and Mexican singer Silvana Estrada on Saturday. Then the late shows start. Bay 7 at American Tobacco Campus hosts William Tyler and Yasmin Williams in a shared guitar night, Seoul's pansori dance band Leenalchi, and Circuit des Yeux presenting her 'Wordless Music' program. BOOM Club, booked with the No Visa collective, runs the DJ end with Jacques Greene, a GRRL x Made of Oak live set and Armana Khan. The Pinhook takes the bands: Star Moles, Kumo 99 with Babe Haven, and the Mississippi family disco-soul of Annie & the Caldwells.
Saturday afternoon is free. From 3pm the American Tobacco Campus amphitheater has MJ Lenderman, Rodrigo Amarante and Woke County Speedway, plus the North Carolina premiere of William Tyler's music film Time Indefinite, with vendors and everything before 6pm open to anyone. Tickets are per show (DPAC nights from $45.50 plus fees, late shows $40 in advance or $20 at the door if there is room), and a VIP weekend pass covers all three DPAC nights, every late show and the matinee.
Expect electronic, jazz, soul and singer-songwriter across 31 acts.
Good Moon 2026 lineup & schedule: all 31 acts
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Eastern Kentucky songwriting with fiddle front and centre — plainspoken, regional, and completely uncompromised, honky-tonks to arenas without changing a thing.
Meshell Ndegeocello
Bassist, singer and bandleader who has slid between funk, jazz, soul and spoken word since the early nineties, and keeps winning Grammys for the jazz end.
Montreal producer whose chopped-vocal house helped define a whole strand of the 2010s — 'Another Girl' glow, still radiating.
Nashville's cosmic guitar cartographer — instrumentals that feel like interstate sunsets, American primitive tradition with a widescreen lens.
Fingerstyle guitarist who lays the instrument flat on her lap, taps it like a piano and adds kalimba and tap shoes; her Nonesuch album Acadia is instrumental folk built from one note at a time.
Star Moles
aja monet
Brooklyn-born surrealist blues poet reading over a live jazz band; her debut album turned a decade of verse into a spoken-word record with real swing.
GRRL x Made of Oak
Nick Sanborn's Made of Oak alias, the modular half of Sylvan Esso, in a live back-to-back with Triangle producer GRRL.
Leenalchi
Seoul band setting pansori singers over two basses and a drummer, so a 200-year-old Korean epic comes out as taut, deadpan dance-punk.
Kumo 99
Ami Komai's hardcore-bred shout over Nate Donmoyer's jungle and drum and bass breaks: rave music built for a pit rather than a chill-out room.
Asheville guitarist whose deadpan, Crazy Horse-leaning songs about wasted afternoons made Manning Fireworks one of 2024's most loved rock records.
Rodrigo Amarante
Rio songwriter from Los Hermanos and Little Joy, singing hushed bossa-tinged folk in three languages; the Narcos theme 'Tuyo' is his.
Veracruz songwriter with a cuatro and one of the most arresting voices in Latin folk — jazz-schooled, heartbreak-fluent.
Armana Khan
Circuit des Yeux
Haley Fohr's four-octave baritone over orchestral art-rock and drone, out of Chicago; each record is a bigger, darker production than the last.
Annie & the Caldwells
A West Point, Mississippi family band playing church-raised disco soul; four decades in, a Luaka Bop debut finally put them on the road.
Derrick Gee's Radio Hour Live
Music curator Derrick Gee's record-recommendation videos turned into a live listening show: he spins and talks through what he loves and why.
Anjimile
Fingerpicked folk with a choral, hymn-like weight from a trans songwriter on 4AD; The King traded the early warmth for spare, grief-struck intensity.
DJ BossLady
Summy
Brotherkenzie
Alec Lomami
Mas Culina
Nicole Mitchell & Joe Westerlund
AACM flutist Nicole Mitchell and Megafaun drummer Joe Westerlund improvising as a duo, spiritual jazz and freeform percussion in open conversation.
Babe Haven
Durham punk band with riot grrrl bite and pop hooks, built on the local DIY circuit and loud enough to have outgrown it.
Woke County Speedway
Baby Rain-a
Micky Slicks
Non-hierarchical NC collective where old-time stringband tradition dissolves into DIY noise and drone — anywhere from two to twelve players.
Hex Files
The headliners
Sylvan Esso — Amelia Meath's plainspoken hooks over Nick Sanborn's modular synth pulses: Durham electronic pop that clicks in a club and still sings in a field. The hosts, headlining two DPAC nights with different guests each time: Meshell Ndegeocello on Thursday and Silvana Estrada on Saturday.
Tyler Childers — Eastern Kentucky songwriting with fiddle front and centre — plainspoken, regional, and completely uncompromised, honky-tonks to arenas without changing a thing. Friday's DPAC headliner, the biggest booking Good Moon has made, with aja monet opening.
Up-and-comers to catch early
- Leenalchi — Two basses, drums and pansori singers turning a Korean folk epic into dance-punk; a rare US club date at Bay 7.
- Annie & the Caldwells — Church-raised disco soul from West Point, Mississippi, closing the Pinhook on Saturday with Hex Files.
Other acts worth planning around
MJ Lenderman — Headlines the free Saturday matinee at the American Tobacco amphitheater from 3pm; no ticket needed.
Jacques Greene — Opens the BOOM Club late shows on Thursday, with DJ BossLady and Summy on the decks.
William Tyler — A shared guitar night with Yasmin Williams at Bay 7 on Thursday, then his film Time Indefinite screens free on Saturday afternoon.
The lineup by day
Times shown are each show's start time as ticketed (doors an hour earlier at DPAC and The Pinhook). Running orders within a show have not been published; the opener goes on first. Derrick Gee's 'Radio Hour Live' has no venue or day announced yet.
Thursday lineup (October 8)
Sylvan Esso, Meshell Ndegeocello, William Tyler, Yasmin Williams, Jacques Greene, Star Moles + 4 more
Thursday set times (10 sets)
- Sylvan Esso · Durham Performing Arts Center
- Meshell Ndegeocello · Durham Performing Arts Center
- William Tyler · Bay 7
- Yasmin Williams · Bay 7
- Jacques Greene · BOOM Club
- Anjimile · Bay 7
- DJ BossLady · BOOM Club
- Summy · BOOM Club
- Star Moles · The Pinhook
- Brotherkenzie · The Pinhook
Friday lineup (October 9)
Tyler Childers, aja monet, Leenalchi, GRRL x Made of Oak, Kumo 99, Nicole Mitchell & Joe Westerlund + 3 more
Friday set times (9 sets)
- Tyler Childers · Durham Performing Arts Center
- aja monet · Durham Performing Arts Center
- Leenalchi · Bay 7
- GRRL x Made of Oak · BOOM Club
- Nicole Mitchell & Joe Westerlund · Bay 7
- Alec Lomami · BOOM Club
- Mas Culina · BOOM Club
- Kumo 99 · The Pinhook
- Babe Haven · The Pinhook
Saturday lineup (October 10)
Sylvan Esso, Silvana Estrada, MJ Lenderman, Rodrigo Amarante, Circuit des Yeux, Armana Khan + 6 more
Saturday set times (12 sets)
- MJ Lenderman · American Tobacco Campus Amphitheater
- Rodrigo Amarante · American Tobacco Campus Amphitheater
- Woke County Speedway · American Tobacco Campus Amphitheater
- Sylvan Esso · Durham Performing Arts Center
- Silvana Estrada · Durham Performing Arts Center
- Circuit des Yeux · Bay 7
- Armana Khan · BOOM Club
- Weirs · Bay 7
- Baby Rain-a · BOOM Club
- Micky Slicks · BOOM Club
- Annie & the Caldwells · The Pinhook
- Hex Files · The Pinhook
Good Moon 2026 lineup FAQ
When and where is Good Moon 2026?
October 8 to 10, 2026 in downtown Durham, NC. The headline shows are at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC); late shows are at Bay 7, BOOM Club and The Pinhook, and the free Saturday matinee is at the American Tobacco Campus amphitheater.
Who plays which night at DPAC?
Thursday October 8: Sylvan Esso with Meshell Ndegeocello. Friday October 9: Tyler Childers with aja monet. Saturday October 10: Sylvan Esso with Silvana Estrada. Doors are 6pm and shows start at 7pm each night.
How do tickets work?
Each show is ticketed on its own. DPAC nights run $45.50 to $89.50 plus a $4 facility fee and ticketing fees, late shows are $40 in advance or $20 cash or card at the door from 10pm if space allows, and the Saturday matinee is free. A VIP weekend pass includes the same seats at all three DPAC nights, priority entry to every late show and the matinee, a merch bundle and a happy hour.
What is free?
Everything before 6pm on Saturday October 10 at the American Tobacco Campus: MJ Lenderman, Rodrigo Amarante, Woke County Speedway, the North Carolina premiere of William Tyler's film Time Indefinite, and vendors. It starts at 3pm.
Who runs Good Moon?
Sylvan Esso (Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn) and their Durham label and collective Psychic Hotline. Earlier editions ran at the Historic Durham Athletic Park and, in 2024, at Durham Bulls Athletic Park with Fleet Foxes; there was no festival in 2025.
Are the late shows all ages?
The Pinhook shows are all ages. Check each venue's listing for Bay 7 and BOOM Club before buying.
Who plays Thursday at Good Moon 2026?
Thursday, October 8: Sylvan Esso, Meshell Ndegeocello, William Tyler, Yasmin Williams, Jacques Greene, Star Moles, plus 4 more acts.
Who plays Friday at Good Moon 2026?
Friday, October 9: Tyler Childers, aja monet, Leenalchi, GRRL x Made of Oak, Kumo 99, Nicole Mitchell & Joe Westerlund, plus 3 more acts.
Who plays Saturday at Good Moon 2026?
Saturday, October 10: Sylvan Esso, Silvana Estrada, MJ Lenderman, Rodrigo Amarante, Circuit des Yeux, Armana Khan, plus 6 more acts.
Are set times out for Good Moon 2026?
Yes. The full schedule is live: the day-by-day section on this page lists every act with its set time.
Going to Good Moon 2026? Get tickets ↗
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