GrassRoots Reveals a 33rd Lineup Led by Lukas Nelson and Lucius

TRUMANSBURG, N.Y. — The 33rd annual Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance will run July 17 through 20, 2025, with a lineup topped by Lukas Nelson, Lucius, Cimafunk and Sierra Hull.

Announced headliners also include Dobet Gnahore, Vieux Farka Toure, The Byrne Brothers and festival founders Donna the Buffalo. More than 80 additional bands are billed across the festival’s stages.

The festival takes place at the Trumansburg Fairgrounds, 2150 Trumansburg Road, Trumansburg, NY 14886, roughly ten miles from Ithaca in Tompkins County.

Who else is on the bill

Named additional performers include Keith Frank & The Soileau Zydeco Band, Jim Lauderdale, The Steel Wheels, Sam Fribush Organ Trio, Keith Secola & His Wild Band of Indians, Flying Clouds of South Carolina, Driftwood, Jennie Lowe Stearns and Gunpoets.

Sierra Hull is a two-time Grammy-nominated bluegrass instrumentalist. Dobet Gnahore is from Ivory Coast, and Vieux Farka Toure is a Malian guitarist and songwriter, keeping the international strand that has run through recent editions, including the 32nd in 2024.

The announcement described the event as “one of the most spirited festivals of the summer.”

Culture Camp comes first

The 8th annual GrassRoots Culture Camp runs July 13 through 16, 2025, in the days directly before the festival gates open.

The camp program pairs workshops and jam sessions with festival artists, and each day closes with communal dinners and evening performances.

Tickets

Tickets for both the festival and Culture Camp are on sale at grassrootsfest.org, with a price increase set to take effect May 1.

The festival is organized around Donna the Buffalo, the band that founded it and still plays it, a through line that stretches back to the years covered here when GrassRoots marked its 20th.

Sources: That Eric Alper, Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival, NYS Music.

Photo: Pete716, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.