Noah Kahan closed out the 2026 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on Sunday night with his signature tune “Stick Season,” capping off another eventful day for the annual Manchester, TN gathering. The Vermont-bred singer-songwriter, who likely drew a number of new, younger fans to the event, has a rich history with Bonnaroo, performing on a smaller tent stage in 2023 and now returning as the main What Stage headliner. He was clearly personally excited about his set, and the weight it carried, discussing the event on social media in advance of his appearance and announcing from the stage, “Happy ‘Roo y’all. I can’t fucking believe I’m headlining this thing. I’ll die for you, Bonnaroo!”

The rising star’s show came after a roller-coaster few hours for Bonnaroo, which was cancelled last year after just one day due to severe weather. On Sunday, after music kicked off in the early afternoon, the festivities were temporarily halted due to storms in the area, forcing the event’s promoters to pause programming until the early evening for safety reasons. Bonnaroo’s team quickly announced a new, truncated schedule, allowing groups like Modest Mouse, Big Gigantic and Japanese Breakfast to deliver high-energy sets, though a few acts like Trombone Shortly, Blondshell and Aly & AJ were unable to perform, unfortunately. (The latter duo, whose 2025 Bonnaroo set was cancelled and who flew in for this year’s event between other commitments, took to social media and suggested the event move seasons next year.) Luckily, Tedeschi Trucks Band were also able to take the What Stage for their slot, playing three songs off their new album Future Soul, favorites like “Midnight in Harlem,” and covers of Elmore James & His Broom Dusters (“The Sky Is Crying”), The Rolling Stones (their newly debuted take on “Loving Cup”), Sly & the Family Stone (“You Can Make It If You Try”> “Everyday People”) and Jeff Beck (“Beck’s Bolero”).

Bonnaroo also turned in a full, uninterrupted day of music on Saturday, despite a few weather scares, allowing Rüfüs Du Sol to pull off a packed headlining What Stage performance and join an elite class of dance acts to hold that coveted slot. A number of bookings also felt like callbacks to the event’s roots in live, improvisational music. Big Gigantic, whose drummer Jeremy Salken attended the first Bonnaroo as a fan, played a late-night set on the Where Stage, which was moved into Centeroo for the first time this year. Mountain Grass punctuated their Bonnaroo debut on the Which Stage with covers of The Allman Brothers’ “Midnight Rider,” The Beatles’ “I am the Walrus,” John Williams’ “Cantina Song” from Star Wars and Jimmy Martin’s fitting “Tennessee.” Alabama Shakes, whose 2012 Thursday tent set was considered a breakout performance, appeared on The Farm for the first time since 2015. Weird Al Yankovic, who has endeared himself to the Bonnaroo faithful through past appearances and a memorable sit in with Portugal. The Man, covered David Bowie’s “Suffragette City.” And Jesse Welles, whose roots with Bonnaroo date back to 2018 when he played with his fledgling rock band, made a surprise stop at the fest, offering a pop-up set in the campgrounds and joining Steph Strings on the large Which Stage for his own “Red” and her “Devil Woman.”

Likewise, Bonnaroo also hosted its annual SuperJam in This Tent later in the evening. Kesha, who grew up in nearby Nashville and has a link to the fest’s organic roots through her early fandom of the band Guster, hosted the event, which paid tribute to a mix of pop styles from throughout the years. She started the show sans guests, offering her own hit “TiK ToK,” before bringing Mountain Grass Unit into the fold for Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” and Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar.” From there, Kesha invited out flipturn and nodded to another former Bonnaroo breakout band whose members attended the first two Roos as campers—MGMT—with “Time to Pretend,” and then they moved into Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.” As the set progressed, Kesha and her guests explored an eclectic mix of sounds. With Wyatt Flores, the party dipped into pop-punk for blink‐182’s “All the Small Things” and Kesha’s own “Die Young.” With Del Water Gap, she took on Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” and Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris.” And with Margo Price, another Bonnaroo veteran who rolled into Bonnaroo as a fan before performing, she covered The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” and The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”

Things continued to twist and turn from there. Boy Throb appeared on the stage for Dolly Patron’s classic “I Will Always Love You,” Blondshell helped out on Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Maps” and Kesha’s own “Blow,” and Chromeo emerged for Icona Pop & Charli XCX’s “I Love It” as well as Kesha’s “Red Flag” and “Take It Off.” Festival favorites Rainbow Kitten Surprise joined the SuperJam for The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” next, while Grouplove offered their own “Tongue Tied” and Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own.” Finally, “Weird Al” Yankovic emerged for Sia’s “Chandelier” and the full cast returned for a sing-along version of Prince’s “Purple Rain.”

After the festival’s conclusion, the Bonnaroo website was updated with a short, hopeful message: “Thank You Bonnaroovians! We needed that. We’re going home with full hearts, happy tears in our eyes and memories to last a lifetime. This community is the best. We love you so much!”