The WinterWonderGrass Music Festival, entering its 13th year in Steamboat Springs, has revealed its lineup for the Feb. 27-March 1, 2026 event.

A free lineup-reveal party is set for 7-9 p.m. Wednesday at the Old Town Pub and will feature the debut of the Daniel Rodriguez String Band. There will be giveaways for festival passes and VIP packages, along with what WinterWonderGrass founder Scotty Stoughton described as “a lot of listening and a lot of hugging.”

“It’s a chance to say hello and celebrate being part of the same community,” said Stoughton. “Those pop-up moments are what living here is all about.”

Stoughton said the WinterWonderGrass goal remains what it has always been — to keep the festival welcoming, accessible and true to the mountain-town spirit that defines Steamboat Springs.

“Growth is natural, but you can shape how it unfolds in your community,” Stoughton said of the event’s impact on the area. “We want a place where different people can live side by side. Music helps make that possible.”

WWG has grown into one of the nation’s signature winter festivals while simultaneously maintaining an intimate grassroots value forged in its early years. What began as a vision to celebrate music and nature side by side has since evolved into a cultural and musical mecca.

“It started as this crazy idea,” Stoughton said. “Bluegrass and acoustic instruments in the middle of winter outside in the snow. It sounded nuts, but people came because they felt something real there — the feeling of community.”

Before moving to Steamboat, WWG was based in Vail. While Stoughton said he loved that community, something about Steamboat felt more aligned with the spirit of the festival. 

“We were selling out Vail, but it didn’t feel like the right fit,” he said. “When I met with folks at Steamboat Resort, I couldn’t even finish the pitch. They said, ‘We want you.’ That’s the kind of welcome that told me we’d found home.”

Since relocating to Steamboat in 2017, the festival has woven itself into the city’s identity and musical culture, as the base of Steamboat Ski & Resort Co. has been transformed every year since into a celebration of live music, family activities and a steady flow of community connection.

This year’s lineup blends familiar names and first-time acts from across bluegrass, Americana and other music genres. Stoughton said the festival’s foundation remains a blend of live music and spontaneous collaboration in “real time.”

The Devil Makes Three will make its first Colorado WinterWonderGrass appearance this coming winter with a mix of roots, swing and punk. Colorado jamgrass legends Leftover Salmon also return with an energy that helped shape Colorado’s music scene.

The Infamous Stringdusters will contribute their signature harmonies and improvisation, while Elephant Revival will take part in its first WWG in several years with its blend of folk and Celtic sound. Daniel Donato, a fan favorite and developing regular on the Steamboat music scene, returns with his “cosmic country” blend of rock and bluegrass that has earned him an international following.

Also returning to Steamboat this winter is Sierra Hull and Lindsay Lou, the latter of whom will serve as this year’s artist at large, which allows her to move through through multiple sets in an almost constant collaboration with other artists.

Andy Frasco, who is well known for being predictably unpredictable, will appear as a roaming guest at large.

Stoughton noted that several of the lineup’s rising artists represent what he sees as the next evolution of the festival’s sound, including Mountain Grass Unit and Clay Street Unit, both of which he feels highlight the traditional and country-jam sides of modern bluegrass.

Moontricks, a band from British Columbia, brings a mix of banjo, guitar and harmonica blended with everything up to and including rap verses, which creates what Stoughton sees as a new sound for WWG. From Austin, the band Chaparral brings powerful songwriting, while the rising folk-pop group TopHouse adds another dose of modern energy.

Other acts include Last Rebel, fiddler Bronwyn Keith-Hines, Johnny Mullenax, California’s Broken Compass Bluegrass and The Banshee Tree.

Local favorites Little Moon Travelers and Deer Creek Sharpshooters return alongside Good Graham and the Painters, who were last year’s band-contest winners. Other special guests include Tyree Woods, formerly of Buffalo Commons, as well as AJ Lee, Silas Herman, WinterWonderWomen and Pickin’ on the Dead.

“I just can’t say no,” Stoughton said with a laugh when asked about the depth and diversity of this year’s lineup. “It’s like creating a giant charcuterie board of sound and community. You want to taste everything.”

Over the years, WWG has also evolved from a concert series into a year-round community initiative. The festival now supports local nonprofits, sustainability programs and youth music education, efforts that Stoughton believes are as central to the festival’s ethos as the music.

“We always want to make sure that what we’re building gives something back,” he said. “It’s about collaboration and inclusivity, and that starts right here in Steamboat.”

Continuing its partnership with the Coletrain Music Academy, the festival will expand its Kid Zone this year, an initiative that provides children a chance to learn how to play instruments, sing and meet working musicians.

“It’s not just face painting anymore,” Stoughton said. “It’s holding a drum, singing into a microphone and meeting the artists who just came off stage.” 

Organizers are also planning free yoga sessions with live music and will continue the traditional free mountain concert on Thursday.

“Those smaller things make it personal,” Stoughton said. “They’re part of what makes this festival different. You can come for the headliners, but you’ll stay for the way it feels.”

For some, the festival has also taken on a deeper role of protecting what Stoughton sees as the mountain way of life that is under threat.

Stoughton, who has lived in and around mountain towns since the 1990s, says he feels the same pressures facing many resort communities including rising costs, housing shortages and shifting cultures. He sees WWG as one way to preserve the authenticity and human connection that once defined ski towns.

“The most successful communities have a mix of people living next to each other,” he said. “When you start putting up walls, you lose something. Music reminds us to look around, lift each other up and stay human about it.”

That sense of community extends to visiting musicians, many of whom have built lasting connections with Steamboat audiences. Stoughton credits the city, and the people within it, for creating that warmth. 

“It’s how they’re treated when they get coffee, when they ride the lift, when they go to the hot springs,” he said. “People here work hard. They love nature. They can be wild, weird and kind. That’s why the artists keep coming back.”

As WWG enters another season in Steamboat, Stoughton said the festival’s success will always be measured less in ticket sales than in the connections it creates. 

“We want to be the odd one out,” he said. “We’re playing acoustic music in the middle of winter on top of a mountain. It’s a little nuts, but it brings people together. The most important things are the people, the memories and the connections we make. That’s the true fabric of everything.”

For more information on the 2026 WinterWonderGrass Music Festival, visit WinterWonderGrass.com.