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.
Synth-popElectronicIndie pop
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.
Good Moon is expected back October 2027 (dates aren't announced yet). Until then, here's the full 2026 lineup and the acts you would have loved.
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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, openers 7, headliner 8:15), 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 has Woke County Speedway, Rodrigo Amarante and MJ Lenderman inside Bay 7 (moved indoors from the amphitheater for Saturday's weather), 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, indie folk and indie pop across 31 acts.
At a glance
- Dates
- –Thursday to Saturday, three days
- Where
- Downtown Durham, NC
- Lineup
- 31 acts
- Website
- Official site
Good Moon 2026 lineup & schedule: all 31 acts
Search it, filter by day, stage or genre.Browse all 31 acts
Search it, filter by day, stage or genre.
Eastern Kentucky songwriting with fiddle front and centre: plainspoken, regional, and completely uncompromised, honky-tonks to arenas without changing a thing.
CountryAppalachian-folk
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.
Neo-soulJazzFunk
Nashville's cosmic guitar cartographer, whose instrumentals feel like interstate sunsets, American primitive tradition with a widescreen lens.
American primitiveInstrumental
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.
FolkInstrumentalAcoustic
Montreal producer whose chopped-vocal house helped define a whole strand of the 2010s, with an 'Another Girl' glow that is still radiating.
UK-garageFuture-R&B
Emily Moales' lo-fi indie pop and folk project out of Philadelphia, homemade records full of Arthurian legend and medieval lore.
Indie popIndie folk
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.
DJ set
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.
Spoken wordJazzSoul
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.
AlternativeDance
Nick Sanborn's Made of Oak alias, the modular half of Sylvan Esso, in a live back-to-back with Triangle producer GRRL.
ElectronicHouse
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.
Drum-and-bassJunglePunk
Rio songwriter from Los Hermanos and Little Joy, singing hushed bossa-tinged folk in three languages; the Narcos theme 'Tuyo' is his.
MpbIndie folkBossa nova
Asheville guitarist whose deadpan, Crazy Horse-leaning songs about wasted afternoons made Manning Fireworks one of 2024's most loved rock records.
Indie rockAlt-country
Veracruz songwriter with a cuatro and one of the most arresting voices in Latin folk, jazz-schooled and heartbreak-fluent.
Latin-folkSinger-songwriter
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.
Art-rockExperimentalDrone
A West Point, Mississippi family band playing church-raised disco soul; four decades in, a Luaka Bop debut finally put them on the road.
SoulGospelDisco
Touring club DJ who cuts Punjabi music and Afro rhythms into hard, fast techno, with sets heard on NTS and Rinse France.
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.
Indie folkSinger-songwriter
The solo project of Hippo Campus guitarist Nathan Stocker: introspective, experimental indie songs that turn his band's bright guitar lines inward.
Singer/songwriter
Newark-born, Durham-based house DJ playing soulful, classic and deep house on community radio and at the house music meetup she runs.
Charlotte DJ working club nights and Sunday vinyl sets, who also hosts a free music video night that runs from jazz and funk to shoegaze and R&B.
AACM flutist Nicole Mitchell and Megafaun drummer Joe Westerlund improvising as a duo, spiritual jazz and freeform percussion in open conversation.
JazzExperimental
Kinshasa-raised DJ and producer behind the NO VISA parties, running Congolese, Angolan and South African club sounds through house and techno.
Electronic
Durham punk band with riot grrrl bite and pop hooks, built on the local DIY circuit and loud enough to have outgrown it.
PunkRiot grrrl
Durham DJ whose mixes start in perreo and reggaeton and end somewhere dancier, with runway electronics and Latin rave cuts in between.
Triangle slacker-country with a punk streak: crunchy, twangy guitars under gutter-poet lyrics that land somewhere between Silver Jews and Drive-By Truckers.
Virginia DJ (say it ray-nah) whose sets run from baile funk and electro into hardgroove techno, with soulful house and disco in the mix.
Non-hierarchical NC collective where old-time stringband tradition dissolves into DIY noise and drone, with anywhere from two to twelve players.
Experimental folkOld-timeDrone
Carrboro post-punk four-piece with keys and two basses, playing raw, rhythm-first sets off a steady run of DIY releases.
Raleigh DJ who came up breaking with the Raleigh Rockers crew, so his sets lean on hip-hop, funk and turntable cuts alongside global club records.
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
Kumo 99 · Jungle breaks with a hardcore vocalist up front; the Pinhook show on Friday will be the loudest room of the weekend.
Babe Haven · Durham's own riot grrrl punks, opening for Kumo 99 at the Pinhook on Friday.
Leenalchi · Two basses, drums and pansori singers turning a Korean folk epic into dance-punk; a rare US club date at Bay 7.Star Moles · Headlining the Thursday Pinhook after-show, with Brotherkenzie opening.
Anjimile · Grief-struck fingerpicked folk from 4AD, opening the guitar night at Bay 7 on Thursday.
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 Campus from 3pm, moved inside Bay 7 for the weather; no ticket needed.
Meshell Ndegeocello · Thursday's DPAC special guest, on a run of Grammy-winning jazz records.
Circuit des Yeux · Presents 'Wordless Music' at Bay 7 on Saturday night, with Weirs opening.
Jacques Greene · Opens the BOOM Club late shows on Thursday, with DJ BossLady and Summy on the decks.
Rodrigo Amarante · Plays the free Saturday matinee, the only chance to hear 'Tuyo' outdoors in Durham this year.
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 are each act's start from the festival's daily schedules. Doors open an hour before the first set at DPAC and The Pinhook, and late sets after midnight are listed under the night they belong to.
Thursday lineup (October 8)
Sylvan Esso, Meshell Ndegeocello, William Tyler, Yasmin Williams, Jacques Greene, Star Moles + 4 more
Thursday set times (10 sets)
- Meshell Ndegeocello · Durham Performing Arts Center
- Sylvan Esso · Durham Performing Arts Center
- Anjimile · Bay 7
- DJ BossLady · BOOM Club
- Brotherkenzie · The Pinhook
- William Tyler · Bay 7
- Yasmin Williams · Bay 7
- Jacques Greene · BOOM Club
- Star Moles · The Pinhook
- Summy · BOOM Club
Friday lineup (October 9)
Tyler Childers, aja monet, Leenalchi, GRRL x Made of Oak, Kumo 99, Derrick Gee's Radio Hour Live + 4 more
Friday set times (10 sets)
- Derrick Gee's Radio Hour Live · Bay 7
- aja monet · Durham Performing Arts Center
- Tyler Childers · Durham Performing Arts Center
- Nicole Mitchell & Joe Westerlund · Bay 7
- Alec Lomami · BOOM Club
- Babe Haven · The Pinhook
- Leenalchi · Bay 7
- GRRL x Made of Oak · BOOM Club
- Kumo 99 · The Pinhook
- Mas Culina · BOOM Club
Saturday lineup (October 10)
Sylvan Esso, Silvana Estrada, MJ Lenderman, Rodrigo Amarante, Circuit des Yeux, Armana Khan + 6 more
Saturday set times (12 sets)
- Woke County Speedway · Bay 7
- Rodrigo Amarante · Bay 7
- MJ Lenderman · Bay 7
- Silvana Estrada · Durham Performing Arts Center
- Sylvan Esso · Durham Performing Arts Center
- Weirs · Bay 7
- Baby Rain-a · BOOM Club
- Hex Files · The Pinhook
- Circuit des Yeux · Bay 7
- Armana Khan · BOOM Club
- Annie & the Caldwells · The Pinhook
- Micky Slicks · BOOM Club
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, the opener starts at 7pm and the headliner at 8:15pm 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.
When is Good Moon 2027?
Good Moon is expected back in October 2027; the festival has not announced the 2027 dates yet. The 2026 lineup stays on this page until it does.
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