Author: Michael Hall

Palo Alto native Molly Tuttle has announced a New Year’s Concert with her band at the Guild Theater in Menlo Park.

Two Week Reminder: The last day to make tax advantaged donations for this tax year is December 31, 2025. You can include bluegrass music in your year-end tax planning.

The Northern California Bluegrass Society accepts donations to support area bluegrass and is a California Not-For-Profit Corporation with Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) status that is also known as the Santa Cruz Bluegrass Society. The NCBS/SCBS Tax ID No. is 94-2907716.

Mail-In Donations: NCBS/SCBS, PO Box 390846, Mountain View, CA 94039-0846.

NCBS Online Donations

Two Week Reminder: The Main Stage Band Application deadline for the August 6-9, 2026 Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival is only three weeks away.

Click this link to apply: https://ncbs.us/events/gof/2026-gof-band-application-forms/

The application is DUE on December 31, 2025. California bluegrass bands are encouraged to apply!

The 32nd Annual event is a benefit for the Northern California Bluegrass Society.

The 32nd Annual Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival will be held Thursday-Sunday, August 6-9, 2026. The beloved annual gathering of California bluegrass bands, friends and family is a benefit for the Northern California Bluegrass Society. The festival will take place at the San Benito County Historical Park in Tres Pinos.

Main Stage Band Applications are due on December 31, 2025.

The International Bluegrass Music Association’s World Of Bluegrass will be held October 20-24, 2026 at the Chattanooga Convention Center in Chattanooga, TN. A free weekend of bluegrass music will be staged throughout the downtown area after the end of the business conference.

The Northern California Bluegrass Society is a longtime organizational member of the IBMA.

The NCBS National Bluegrass Stolen & Missing Instrument Page is on this website. It provides a central reporting location for the recovery of stolen or lost bluegrass instruments. This service is for both theft victims and used instrument buyers. The FREE page is searchable, and links can be added to connect additional information. Please post again when the instrument is recovered.

Your Membership in the Northern California Bluegrass Society supports local bluegrass music in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Monterey Bay Area, and in all of Northern California. Join or renew today!

NCBS Membership

The Northern California Bluegrass Society welcomes the FREE 20th Annual Holiday Hootenanny on Friday, December 12 with bluegrass bands starting the show at 5:00pm. Doors open at 4:00pm. The Stoney Mountain Ramblers will be the host band. Thanks to our own Scott Dailey for booking this event, which is presented by the Devil’s Canyon Brewing Company.

The Strawberry Music Festival has announced that the 2026 Fall Festival will be held on the same weekend as this year’s event — the third weekend of October. The event may be 3 or 4 days long, with a further announcement coming soon.

The 4-day 2026 Spring Festival will be held on Memorial Day Weekend. Both events will take place at the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley.

---

On a sad note, the Frankly Bluegrass Festival has been cancelled. The two-year-old event was held in the fall at the Amador County Fairgrounds in Plymouth. This was an excellent festival that deserved to make it. It continued a long tradition of bluegrass events at this venue. We will miss it.

Three Week Reminder: The last day to make tax advantaged donations for this tax year is December 31, 2025. You can include bluegrass music in your year-end tax planning.

The Northern California Bluegrass Society accepts donations to support area bluegrass and is a California Not-For-Profit Corporation with Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) status that is also known as the Santa Cruz Bluegrass Society. The NCBS/SCBS Tax ID No. is 94-2907716.

Mail-In Donations: NCBS/SCBS, PO Box 390846, Mountain View, CA 94039-0846.

NCBS Online Donations