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wo days, 29, performers, 35 performances. The Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival returns October 3-4, 2025.

Oriental’s free weekend music festival is in its’ eleventh year, and celebrates the distinctly American sounds of bluegrass and country, jazz, swing and gospel. All playing out from the village front porches and the Riverfront Stage.

Bands begin playing Friday at 1p at the Riverfront Stage with local favorites Moores Creek Bluegrass. The Jeff Little Trio (the only band to incorporate an upright piano) returns along with festival newcomer Sweet Megg.

When she’s finished with the main stage performance, Sweet Megg hosts a workshop on the role of the bandleader in swing jazz and the evolution of swing jazz in country music.

Saturday’s lineup introduces new faces and music to the festival. Rissi Palmer made the Billboard Hot Country Singles Music Charts in 2007 with her single “County Girl,” the first black female artist to do so since 1987. Her 2019 album Revival made Rolling Stone’s list of Top 25 Country-Soul Albums of All Time.

Riverfront Stage headliner Rissi Palmer

Brother-sister duo The Wildmans also play the Riverfront Stage Saturday. Hailing from Floyd County, Virginia, the siblings have won awards in the Galax Old Fiddler’s Convention and studied at the Berklee College of Music. Have a listen:

Acisse Jay and Christie Lenée are returning performers. In 2024, Norfolk based Acisse Jay brought her signature sound – described as “the soul of rock” – to a South Avenue porch. Award winning guitarist Christie Lenée is a multi-year veteran of the festival, and has graced multiple town venues. This year, they’re both on the Riverfront Stage.

Acisse Jay & The Gents

Between the main stage acts, catch sets from local favorites and new arrivals throughout Oriental. Friday’s performers are: Mild Goose Chase, Patrick Bliss, Harbor Sounds, The UHOO’s, Noah Cole, the Downeast Dulcimers, Mike Bramble, Pamlico Flutes, Brant Island Strings and Ken Belangia & Friends.

Mild Goose Chase plays again on Saturday, along with: the Gospel Ensemble, Wondering Hours, Brown Mountain Lighting Bugs, Dust Parade, Hoff‘n’Finch, TerryLynn Melody, Brant Island Strings, The Mad Fiddler, Hooverville, Mark Tesh, Shawn Aldridge, HuDost, and the Pamlico High School Jazz Ensemble.

The Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival celebrates the musical heritage of North Carolina on the first weekend in October. Admission is free, and the whole thing is funded through donations from patrons and music lovers.

Local and regional artisans and crafters set up at the festival’s Village Market overlooking the Neuse River. There’s also a Food Park nearby offering selections from area restaurants and local nonprofits.

You can chip in to help fund the festival by buying buttons, purchasing some swag, or just throwing a few dollars their way, all at olfrontporch.org.

Christie Lenée on the Riverfront Stage in 2023.

The Ol’ Front Porch Music folks sent in these words, showing how they make it all work:

The Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival, Inc., is a 501©(3) nonprofit organization. Its purpose is to provide the region’s multi-cultural and racially diverse musical talent with support, promotion and performance venues and encourage development of roots music appreciation and skills in Pamlico County, in particular among its youth.

The festival receives financial support from many businesses, organizations and individual donors, and from the Harold H. Bate Foundation; South Arts; the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources and the National Endowment for the Arts; and the Pamlico County Arts Council. Media sponsors are TownDock.net and Public Radio East. It is because of their generosity that the festival can be offered free to the public. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Posted Wednesday May 14, 2025 by Allison DeWeese