MERLE FEST

This festival was created in 1988 by the folk and blues musician Doc Watson, in honour of his son Merle, himself musician, dead in a tractor accident. It's a "traditional plus" music festival, that is, a blend of traditional and contemporary music from bluegrass to jazz, blues, cajun music and Old Time music. Each year, the festival is held on the university campus of Wilkesboro, near Boone, North Carolina. It brings tens of thousands of people together.