Festival Report: Hopscotch 2026
The highs and lows of this year’s Hopscotch Music Fest
Raleigh collectively breathed a sigh of relief when tickets to Hopscotch Music Festival finally went on sale this year. After radio silence from all the festival’s socials and website, Hopscotch announced a late return to Downtown Raleigh Sept. 10–12, in tow with its usual plethora of live music, community, club shows and more.
This year’s festival was more linear and less choose-your-own adventures compared to the fetes of years past. Moore Square didn’t have an *official* lineup, so Hopscotchers could stay in City Plaza for the headliners or hit the club shows.
The Moore Square stage was dubbed the “Moore Square Commons,” a free and family-friendly space with myriad musicians, artists, makers, food vendors and more throughout the weekend. Music that both uplifts smaller musicians and is free is great—especially in this economy—but getting rid of half of all the festival’s headlining performances in favor of it felt disappointing, especially when free music already dotted the city Wednesday through Sunday thanks to day parties.
The stage previously hosted some of Hopscotch’s most popular performances—think the likes of King Krule and Crumb—and while the bands that played deserve their flowers, discarding four headlining sets a day didn’t feel like a great solution.
That said, City Plaza had fantastic headliners—Soccer Mommy and King Princess were crowd faves, and Duckwrth’s stage presence was unmatched—but not a single one hailed from NC, much less the Triangle. A lot of them were from the likes of NYC, LA and Nashville, and as enjoyable as the performances were, Hopscotch may have lost its former luster for uplifting local musicians.
At recent Hopscotch fests, at least one hyper-local band with fewer listeners than your average headliner got to take the main stage—think Sluice, Fust and the now-defunct My Sister Maura—forcing casual festival-goers who may skip club shows to lay eyes on local talent.
Between the lack of locality and so many less headliners, much of the fest just felt rushed. And given the late announcement, that sentiment may not be far from the truth. But regardless, there is still something inherently ~Raleigh~ about dancing in City Plaza underneath the lights of the adjacent towers—and Hopscotch didn’t lose that sparkle.
Per usual, the club shows were the essence of Hopscotch—the lineup was *chefs kiss.* The best performances of the year were tucked away inside Neptunes, Kings, The Pour House, Slim’s and more—and the artists performing will likely soon outgrow small venues. If you knew where to look, soon-to-be big names in indie littered Downtown.
Case in point: There was barely room to breathe at Thomas Dollbaum’s packed-out Neptunes show (in the best way), and Jooselord’s set at The Pour House likely took the crown for the most energetic set of the fest.Post-show, the same crowd brought the energy out to the street as they spilled out of bars still buzzing about the music. Hopscotch still upheld its yearly tradition—bringing a certain sense of anticipation and excitement to Fayetteville Street that stretches deep into the night Thursday through Saturday.
Regardless of the ups and downs of this year’s fest, Hopscotch is crucial to Raleigh’s identity—and we’ll be patient as the festival gets back on its feet, as long as it returns for years to come.