What makes a great festival? Great bands are essential. A beautiful venue with plenty of space to spread out? That’s a bonus. And let’s not forget about vendors with delicious food and unique items to explore. But perhaps most importantly, a great festival has a spirit of community and a setting so inviting you’d visit even without a festival. Enter Bluegrass Island Music Festival in Manteo, North Carolina—probably the best festival you haven’t heard of, until now.

Purity still exists in modern-day music. There’s the purity of real instruments – violin, acoustic guitar, upright bass, percussion, and even cello – coupled with homespun harmonies that magically float into the ether. Then, you have the purity of songs written from the soul that fill a human void. None of that ever goes out of style.