Overview Borderland is a three-day music and arts festival in the hayfields of Knox Farm State Park in East Aurora, 15 minutes outside Buffalo, and the 2026 bill put Jack White, Alabama Shakes and Lord Huron at the top of it. The booking runs across rock, soul, Americana, bluegrass, jam and brass bands on two stages, Main and Homespun. Jennifer Brazill started it in her hometown in 2018 as a two-day event and took it to three days in 2023. Knox Farm is a 200-plus-acre former estate given to New York State in 2000, run with the nonprofit Friends of Knox Farm. On site The festival takes about 15 acres of open grassland, hayfields and pasture, with a 100-year-old horse barn behind it. Gates open at 1 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. on the weekend days, and re-entry is allowed. Around the stages sit an artisan craft village, a kids zone with arts, crafts and music, a food court, bars and a designated sober area. Weekend mornings in 2026 opened with Yoga at the Mansion and Bluegrass and Bloody Marys. Vendors are cashless, drinks come in reusable cups and water is free at refill stations. State park rules bar camping on site, so campers stay at Kissing Bridge ski resort and ride a shuttle in. Audience Families come: children 10 and under get in free, people bring wagons, strollers, blankets and folding chairs, and the kids zone runs all weekend. The festival counts about 35% of its crowd as traveling in, from Rochester, Toronto, Cleveland and Pittsburgh as well as Buffalo. Local acts share the bill, and the winner of the Battle of the Borderland contest opens the Main Stage. Talent and Influencers Trey Anastasio Band, Goose and moe. played 2023, when Goose brought Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith of Dawes on for a nearly 30-minute jam. The Black Crowes, Caamp and Marcus King headlined 2024. Vampire Weekend, Khruangbin, Mt. Joy and Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats led 2025. The 2026 bill added Pixies, The Head and the Heart and a Bob Weir tribute from moe. and Organ Fairchild. Track record Borderland runs on a Leave No Trace policy with more than 100 volunteers on its Green Team, and in 2024 the refill stations replaced 43,776 single-use plastic bottles. The same year 1,871 pounds of compost went to the local farm Farmer Pirates and recycling proceeds went to The Rural Outreach Center. New York State and Erie County gave the festival an Environmental Stewardship award. Brand presence Both stages carry a presenting name, and the Green Team and the water refill stations are sold as partnerships of their own. Drinks are served discounted in branded reusable mugs.