Wilksboro, NC — The high cost of travel and a downturn in the economy didn’t seem to slow down attendance to this years MerleFest. According to a press release on Merlefest’s website, this years festival was enjoyed by over 76,000 festival attendees this year. Over the course of four days, the Wilkes Community College campus became the home of a wide variety of traditional-plus fans and players with music featured on a multitude of stages daily.

Preliminary estimates show that MerleFest 2008 overall participation reached 76,708 which is comparable to 2007 participation of 79,412. “We are so proud that MerleFest fans remain committed to the event despite current economic conditions and threatening weather that included a storm delay on Saturday,” says festival director Ted Hagaman. “Since we opened ticket sales in November we have seen single day ticket sales outpace four-day ticket sales.”

Performers at MerleFest 2008 included The Avett Brothers; Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet featuring Bela Fleck, Casey Driessen, & Ben Sollee; Sam Bush; The Carolina Chocolate Drops; Jerry Douglas; Levon Helm & The Midnight Ramble on the Road with Special Guests; Solas “Reunion,”with Karan Casey & John Doyle; Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby with Kentucky Thunder; Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mtn Boys; Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives; Rhonda Vincent and The Rage; Dan Tyminski Band; Alison Brown Quartet with Joe Craven; Donna The Buffalo; Blue Highway; The Claire Lynch Band; Dirk Powell & Riley Baugus; Tony Rice; Peter Rowan; Ollabelle; Sally Van Meter; Rhonda Vincent & The Rage; Pete Wernick & Flexigrass; Tim O’Brien; The Waifs; The Waybacks; Old Crow Medicine Show, and many more.

Additional information about all aspects of the festival can be found at www.merlefest.org.