Images courtesy of The Momentary in Bentonville, Arkansas

Over the weekend, Bentonville, Ark.’s The Momentary welcomed fans from across the country for FreshGrass | Bentonville 2025. In its highly anticipated fifth annual presentation, FreshGrass’ sister festival in the South hosted a total of 23 artists from the worlds of folk, bluegrass, Americana and everything in between for a captivating two-day retreat, led by headliners Lukas Nelson and Shakey Graves and artists-at-large Rosanne Cash with John Leventhal.

FreshGrass | Bentonville commenced on Friday afternoon with early sets from distinguished performers like the four-time IBMA-winning all-female bluegrass ensemble Sister Sadie, outlaw country torchbearer Jaime Wyatt, beloved roots up-and-comers AJ Lee & Blue Summit and pathbreaking queer folk singer-songwriter Willi Carlisle, who returned to debut new music written as the 2025 recipient of the FreshGrass Composition Commission. “If we allow ourselves to sing together, there’s a release of sadness, maybe even a communal one. And so for me personally, singing, like the literal act of thinking through suffering, is really freeing,” Carlisle said of the commissioned works.

As the sun set over the Ozarks, Béla Fleck delivered an enthralling performance with his BEATrio, which matched the genre-bending banjo master with harpist Edmar Castañeda and drummer Antonio Sánchez. Next, on the Main Stage, Alejandro Rose-Garcia’s headline set underscored why Shakey Graves has become one of the most acclaimed acts in Americana: His effortless blend of intimate, contemplative songwriting and unpredictable bursts of rock-and-roll theatricality won over the hearts and bodies of the dancing and awestruck crowd. Old-style cajun revivalists Lost Bayou Ramblers closed out Friday night with an after-hours side stage set.

Saturday’s program rolled in at noon with a full day of concerts and off-stage entertainment around The Momentary’s immersive campus; while some early birds caught performances from Latin pop rising star La Doña and longtime banjo standard-bearer Alison Brown, others enjoyed square dancing, instrument workshops, the contest for the FreshGrass Foundation’s first-ever band award and The Prison Concerts: Folsom and San Quentin, photographer Jim Marshall’s documentation of Johnny Cash’s unforgettable performances for incarcerated audiences in 1968 and 1969.

After an eclectic mix of music from Arkansan singer-songwriter Jesse Welles, Latin Grammy-winner Mireya Ramos and the Poor Choices and newgrass pioneers Fog Holler, Cash and Leventhal finally united for a powerful set that beamed out grit, gravity and hard-fought resolve long after the lights went down. The tried and true duo is a hard act to follow, but Afrobeat ambassador Seun Kuti and Egypt 80–his father Fela’s former band–built on the energy with inviting and infectious funk rhythms. The weekend’s high spirits culminated in a headline finale from Nelson, who unleashed a reserve of longstanding fan-favorites and hard-hitting new material to wrap up another amazing year of music at The Momentary.

Get an inside look at the highlights from FreshGrass | Bentonville in the photo gallery below, courtesy of The Momentary. Learn more about the festival at freshgrassfestival.com/bentonville.