Get ready for the 2019 Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion with a pale blue shirt featuring this year’s official festival artwork!

Rhythm & Roots changes festival dates for 2020

Located in Historic Downtown Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia, the Birthplace of Country Music, parent organization of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, the annual Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion music festival, and Radio Bristol, has announced a date change for the 2020 Bristol Rhythm, which celebrates its 20th anniversary that year.

The decision to adjust scheduling for the festival follows the recent announcement from NASCAR that Bristol Motor Speedway’s popular August night race will move to Sept. 19, as part of NASCAR’s 2020 playoffs.

“After a great deal of discussion with the Cities of Bristol, Tennessee and Bristol, Virginia, along with our key partners, we have decided to move the 20th anniversary of Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion to the weekend before the night race at Bristol Motor Speedway,” said Leah Ross, executive director of the Birthplace of Country Music. “The festival will take place Sept. 11-13, in historic downtown Bristol.”

“Music and racing are the greatest tourism drivers to Bristol,” continued Ross. “We congratulate our friends and partners at Bristol Motor Speedway on this unique opportunity, and we feel this opens up new possibilities to connect music and race fans. Bringing together these two extremely popular events will have a huge tourism impact on Bristol, as we will provide nearly two weeks of exciting entertainment to visitors to our area.”

Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion celebrates the legacy of the 1927 Bristol Sessions recordings with more than 130 acts of live music on 20 stages across several blocks of State Street in Historic Downtown Bristol. The event has hosted an astounding lineup of musicians from across genres over the years, including Old Crow Medicine Show, Emmylou Harris, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Dr. Ralph Stanley, The Indigo Girls, the Drive-By Truckers and Buddy Guy.

Visit BristolRhythm.com for more information.