The 17th Annual Delfest took place May 22 – 25, 2025, at the Allegany County Fairgrounds in Cumberland, MD.  Headliners included host and founder Del McCoury Band and The Travelin’ McCourys, along with Sierra Ferrell, Larkin Poe, The California Honeydrops, Railroad Earth, and more.

Article and Photos by Nicholas J Price

Best festival ever is a phrase heard quite often while walking around the Allegany County Fairgrounds in Cumberland, Maryland. DelFest, celebrating its 17th anniversary, is one of the premier bluegrass festivals. A dedication to its namesake, Del McCoury, DelFest stands out from other festival grounds due to its idyllic beauty, nestled next to the Potomac River and the West Virginia border. 

Heard from festival attendee and artist alike, DelFest is the best festival is a common refrain. And from an artist perspective, it is considered an honor to play the festival hosted by the McCoury family, one of the oldest names in bluegrass. What other festival can you see Del McCoury perform four times at 86 years young? If you’ve never experienced the magic of Del McCoury, DelFest is the perfect place to do so. 

This year’s festival was supported by an excellent lineup of  36 artists that included The Wood Brothers, Sierra Ferrell, Larkin Poe, The Travelin’ McCourys, and The California Honeydrops as the festival headliners. Each day offered a different musical experience for festival attendees, getting a taste of bluegrass, southern rock, country, Americana and funk, jazz and soul. If you’re open to all genres, then DelFest has a bit of something for you.

2025 DelFest Highlights

The Benefits of DELuxe: the Wednesday Arrival

Spread across three stages, attendees this year were treated to almost perfect weather besides a damp and rainy Wednesday and Thursday. This year, DELuxe attendees who showed up on Wednesday were treated to a Q&A and a few songs with Del and his two sons, Ronnie and Rob. The Q&A encompassed everything that is Del McCoury, upbeat songs, his cheerful personality and the excellent musicianship that would be displayed throughout the weekend.

Kicking Off the Festival the Right Way

Next up was Thursday, which always starts with the Del McCoury Band soundcheck. The soundcheck is always an excellent and fun way to ease into the weekend. Next up was Sister Sadie, who opened the festival with a strong performance that highlighted the group’s depth and expertise within the bluegrass realm. The set was filled with originals and covers, with the band playing Touch of Grey for their first time, performing the song perfectly and then starting the next song with a dead-esque jam before sliding into an original. 

Dan Tyminski followed up Sister Sadie, and WOW was his set a treat! A legend in the bluegrass world, known for his Man of Constant Sorrow rendition in O’ Brother Where Art Thou, Tyminski’s vocals and picking had people claiming it as the set of the weekend. His set also included an adorable story about how he ended up collaborating with Avicii because his daughter would never let him not collaborate with her favorite artist.

The song in mention, “Hey Brother,” was performed beautifully and was not the only time attendees would hear an Avicii song. The night was then wrapped up by the Wood Brothers, who made their third appearance at the festival, with their first appearance in the 10pm slot. Their celebrated catalogue was emphasized by Chris Wood’s excellent bass playing and Oliver’s moving guitar playing.

Friday morning opened with legendary singer/songwriter, Steve Poltz. This was a perfect way to start the day. His set was bolstered by his humorous storytelling and featured a sneak peek at his new song with Sierra Hull, however, he only shared the first two verses. He also played his song, “Leaders,” which he wrote with Billy Strings.

Before playing the song, he shared that he actually forgot he wrote the song until Billy released it on his Renewal album. The set then ended with Steve joining the crowd and leading the crowd through a tearful, sing-a-long version of Ripple.

Strolling Down Memory Lane With Jerry & Dawg Revisited

Consisting of festival MC Joe Craven, Ronnie McCoury, Stu Allen and Jim Kerwin, Jerry & Dawg Revisited is a magical experience. The band consists of musicians who have all played with either Jerry Garcia or David Grisman. The quartet dove into the Grisman/Garcia catalogue, weaving through some of the band favorites like The Thrill is Gone and Russian Lullaby. If you have the opportunity to see this quartet, do yourself a favor and check them out!

Hunting for Foxes With Sierra Ferrell

Making her return to DelFest for the third year in a row, and after a year in which her Sunday set was rained out after a few songs, Sierra Ferrell graced the stage with the type of stage presence that only Sierra Ferrell can conjure. She opened her set with a bang, coming out with her fiddle and leading the band through I Can Drive You Crazy, following it up with I’ll Come Off the Mountain.

The set included a cover of Me & Bobby McGee that summoned the ghost of Janis Joplin. To end the show, Sierra played incredibly strong and moving renditions of American Dreaming and Fox Hunt.

Staying Up Late With Railroad Earth & Mountain Grass Unit

If you’ve never been to DelFest before, late nights in the Music Hall are a special experience. These shows typically sell out due to the limited space and are not for the faint of heart. The sets start at 12:15am and go until 3:30am or later, and are typically filled with deep jams and heavy grooves to keep the audience engaged. And that is exactly what happened on Friday night with Railroad Earth. 

A DelFest veteran and no stranger to playing a late-night show, Railroad Earth played a wonderfully executed set with a Captain Nowhere that went on an epic journey, which was then followed up by a rousing rendition of Head. 

With a brief 30-minute break between acts, Mountain Grass Unit took the stage to play a few originals and then some giant covers, which included Eyes of the World > Brown Eyed Woman > Don’t Let Me Down > Comfortably Numb. They then played Get Back, Meet Me at the Creek ,and Get Out My Life Woman. Setting a strong tone to finish out the night.

Getting Jazzy With Matteo Mancuso Trio

No words will do this set honors. A group of Italian musicians, led by guitarist Matteo Mancuso, this progressive jazz trio regaled the Potomac Stage with some of the most unique music to ever grace a stage at DelFest (this was my 13th year as a festival attendee). Perfect guitar licks were layered with boastful bass lines, to set the tone for their hour-and-fifteen-minute set. Towards the end of the set, they played a masterful dedication to Jaco Pastorius, the famous bass player from The Weather Report. After they finished their set, the band was also called back for an encore, not something that happens very often on the tightly run schedule of DelFest.

Dusting Off the Dancing Shoes With Gaelic Storm

Making their first appearance at DelFest, this 30-year touring band got the crowd dancing hard on Sunday, with their Irish-influenced music that included some incredibly funny banter about the band’s history, some of the songs and the backgrounds of some of the new band members. Towards the end of the set as well, Gaelic Storm played the second Avicii cover of the weekend, with Wake Me Up, nailing the song perfectly. This is another band that brought a very unique sound to DelFest for the first time and would be a welcome addition any year at the festival.​

Going to the Church of Del McCoury on Sunday Evening 

This set is typically one of most looked forward to sets of the weekend and boy, did it deliver. Running a cold all weekend and complaining about not being able to sing or perform any of his songs, Del McCoury sang his heart out on Sunday night, showing everyone in the audience why he is the Godfather of Bluegrass.

To save his vocal chords a bit, singing duties were shared around the stage, bringing up artist after artist to join the family band on stage. Guests that night included two songs with Darrell Scott; two with the Price Sisters, including In the Pines and Old Home Place; two songs with Jerry McCoury and an expected sit-in with Lech Wierzynski from the California Honeydrops song that Del McCoury recorded, Other Shore.

This set will be a Del set to remember.

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If more of the world could be like DelFest, the world would be a better place.

The festival was packed with excellent performance after excellent performance and a few of the other standout sets were Kitchen Dwellers, Leftover Salmon, Larkin Poe, Tophouse & Clay Street Unit, all bands who were more than happy to bring their unique music-stylings to DelFest. 

All in all, DelFest proved once again why it is one of the premier music festivals in the US. With its family-first attitude making it one of the most kid-friendly environments on the planet, DelFest is a festival not to be missed. There is a reason it is always labeled as the best festival.

From the first time stepping foot on the grounds, you know that you will be back. So in between this year and next year’s 18th annual DelFest, make sure to practice your DelBows, get those feet kicking up some dust and share love with those around you, because if more of the world could be like DelFest, the world would be a better place.

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