After canceling its 2020 edition due to COVID-19, MerleFest has announced that its 2021 edition will take place Sept. 16-19, rather than its typical April weekend. However, the festival also announced that it will return to its Spring weekend in 2022.

“We chose to announce this change now to give everyone an opportunity to put this on their calendar and to allow us time to secure all artists and contract the necessary support services,” said Festival Director, Ted Hagaman via press release. “Lineup information and other festival details will be coming soon.”

“After months of deliberation and extensive research with leading medical experts we feel it is in the best interest of our fans, artists, staff, college, and community to reschedule the 2021 festival to the fall,” continued Hagaman. “We have a reputation for providing a quality, safe, and organized festival and feel this move is necessary to again deliver that type of event. We’d like to express appreciation to many for their ‘can do’ spirit in rearranging schedules and plans to accommodate this move. I’d especially like to thank the organizers of Carolina in the Fall for agreeing to forego their festival next year in order to support our festival. It truly is a team effort in our community.”

For more information, head to merlefest.org.