Celebrated singer. songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens announced Tuesday that she will be headlining and curating a festival of her own making, Biscuits & Banjos, celebrating Black culture with a particular emphasis on roots musicians. The first-ever festival will take place in Durham, North Carolina on April 25-27, 2025.
Besides performing as a solo artist, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Giddens will participate in a reunion of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, the ground-breaking, Grammy-winning string band she co-founded with Dom Flemons. The group has not played a show since 2014, and their headlining reunion set promises to include the original 2005 lineup as well as other members who joined up in the years that followed.
Flemons will have his own set during the festival, as will another Carolina Chocolate Drops alumnus who’s had a solo career of note, Leyla McCalla. Others on the bill include the legendary Taj Mahal, jazz great Christian McBride, country favorite Rissi Palmer, the Legendary Ingrammettes and New Dangerfield. Giddens will participate in several performances in different musical configurations, including what is described as a revue-style show with special guests.
The festival, for which Giddens officially serves as artistic director, is being put on in 2025 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Black Banjo Gathering, an event that, among other things, launched the Carolina Chocolate Drops.
“This festival has been a long-time dream of mine,” Giddens said in a statement. “It’s about honoring the connections that tie Black culture together across time and geography, whether it’s through music, food or storytelling. The Black Banjo Gathering was such an important milestone for me personally, and I want Biscuits & Banjos to bring that same spirit of discovery and community to today’s generation of artists and fans.”
Biscuits & Banjos will take place over three days at various indoor or outdoor venues within walking distance of one another in downtown Durham, featuring lectures, readings, workshops and food events on top of musical performances. Among the unique lineup of events being promised are a celebrity chef biscuit bake-off, free banjo lessons and square dances.
A portion of ticket sales and merch proceeds will go toward hurricane relief efforts in the beleaguered state. “The recovery of Western North Carolina will be measured in years, not months,” the official announcement noted.
Tickets go on sale Friday. More information can be found here.
Biscuits & Banjos is a non-profit festival, with funding coming from the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, North Carolina Humanities, the Danielle Rose Paikin Foundation, the Harper House Foundation, Warner Music Group/Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund and others individuals and organizations.
Giddens’ career after the Carolina Chocolate Drops has included multiple solo albums, most recently 2023’s doubly Grammy-nominated “You’re the One,” as well as projects in collaboration with Silkwood Ensemble, Francesco Turrisi and Our Native Daughters. Other credits include an acting role on the TV series “Nashville.” She won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 2023 for her opera, “Omar.”
