Overview Pilgrimage is a two-day music festival on a century-old horse farm in Franklin, Tennessee, where the main stage is named for Midnight Sun, the champion Tennessee Walking Horse stallion buried on the grounds. Kevin Griffin of Better Than Ezra started it in 2015 with W. Brandt Wood and Michael Whelan, modeling it on the New Orleans Jazz Fest: rock and roll, alt-country, bluegrass, jazz, indie and gospel on one bill, with headliners, middle cards and local up-and-comers side by side. It ran in September through 2025, took 2026 off and named April dates for 2027. The Park at Harlinsdale Farm is a 230-acre city park on the National Register of Historic Places, on the Harpeth River about 20 minutes south of Nashville. On site Midnight Sun sits in the farm's largest field, a natural amphitheater ringed by trees, food and drink outlets, the Maker Village and the VIP Village, and many people spend the whole day there on blankets. Gold Record Road, the second stage, sits in another natural bowl and is named for the chain of highways from New Orleans through Memphis and Nashville that runs past the farm's front. The Americana Music Triangle is a revival-style tent with stagecraft by Mike Wolfe of American Pickers and Meghan Aileen, an antique Radio and Sound whiskey bar tent and 16 booths presented by partner cities and states. A standing zone in front of each main stage is kept clear of chairs. Music ends at 10 at night and the crowd walks into downtown Franklin. Audience It is a blanket-and-lawn-chair crowd with children in it: kids seven and under get in free with an adult, strollers and wagons are allowed, and the Franklin Fun Farm is set aside for them. The allowed-items list runs to low-backed chairs, 8 by 10 foot blankets and refillable water bottles. The festival says its guests come from around the country and the world. Talent and Influencers Foo Fighters, The Black Keys, The Killers, Justin Timberlake, Chris Stapleton and Eddie Vedder have all played Midnight Sun. John Mayer and Kings of Leon headlined 2025, on a bill with Turnpike Troubadours, Young the Giant, Father John Misty, Sam Fender, Grace Potter, Better Than Ezra, Colony House and Maggie Rose. That Saturday Sam Barber played Gold Record Road and Ben Chapman's Peach Jam, with JD Clayton and Meg McRee, ran two sets in the Americana Music Triangle. Track record From 2015 through 2025 it missed only 2020, canceled for COVID-19, and weather ended the 2018 festival early. Its nonprofit arm, the Pilgrimage Foundation, takes a share of every pass for Friends of Franklin Parks and Harlinsdale Farm, and has given to MusiCares, the American Red Cross, the City of Franklin and a scholarship at the Dark Horse Institute, a local audio-engineering school. Brand presence The Americana Music Triangle is built from partner booths: 16 cities and states each present their own music history with artifacts, instruments and show posters. Outside that, brands appear through the festival itself, because unapproved advertising, flyers and promotional items are banned at the gate.