Healing Appalachia announces cancellation of 2026 music festival

By RealWV Staff,

ASHLAND, KY — In an announcement released Thursday, Healing Appalachia announced the cancellation of the 2026 music festival due to “current economic conditions.”

The full announcement stated, “After careful consideration, Healing Appalachia 2026 will not move forward as planned. Current economic conditions and the rising costs of large-scale festival production compel Hope in the Hills to redirect resources to the recovery programs at the heart of our mission.”

Healing Appalachia is the nation’s largest recovery-based music festival. It was held for years in Lewisburg, WV, before moving to Kentucky last year. Tyler Childers is attached to the festival and always headlines. He won his first Grammy this past year, is touring this summer, and was planned to headline again this year.

Organizers say they will return in 2027 at the Boyd County Fairgrounds in Ashland, Kentucky, for a festival on September 10 & 11.

“Although the festival is paused for this year, the need for investment in recovery is not,” said the release. Hope in the Hills is the nonprofit behind the music festival, and they will have contributed almost $2 million to recovery efforts by the fall of 2026.

“For years, this festival has been more than music. It has been a living example of what is possible when recovery, hope, and community come together to create real impact across Appalachia.”