THROUGH THE LENS: Rooster Walk & Railbird Festivals Offered Contrasting Takes On Appalachian Music Festivals
This week’s column highlights two Appalachian roots music festivals: Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival, held in Martinsville, Virginia, and Railbird Festival, held in Lexington, Kentucky. Rooster Walk returned for a 16th year (May 21-24, 2026) just months after being selected as the best music fest
Black News 
This week’s column highlights two Appalachian roots music festivals: Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival, held in Martinsville, Virginia, and Railbird Festival, held in Lexington, Kentucky.
Rooster Walk returned for a 16th year (May 21-24, 2026) just months after being selected as the best music fest in Southeast and Mid-Atlantic by the readers of Blue Ridge Outdoors. This is saying something since it beat out the much more well known FloydFest, DelFest, and MerleFest.
Rooster Walk is held on Pop’s Farm, 150 acres of rolling fields and forests, near the small, rural town of Martinsville. It is a community nonprofit that was created in 2009 in memory of two childhood friends who passed away in their 20s: Edwin “the Rooster” Penn and Walker Shank.
Festival proceeds go directly to the Penn-Shank Memorial Endowment Scholarship at Martinsville High School and a music instrument program to support local musicians.
