Kerrville Folk Festival

10/13/2026

🌶️OKAY, CAMP COOKS: WE NEED YOU!

The Quiet Valley Homecoming Chili Cookoff is happening Saturday, October 24, and we’ve got some serious braggin’ rights on the line… but we still need more pots in the competition.

Right now we have seven entries total, and only ONE Vegetarian Chili entry. Surely the Kerrville campground can do better than that?!

We’re looking for:

🔥 Your closely guarded family recipe
🔥 Your camp’s legendary chili
🔥 Your wildly experimental masterpiece
🔥 Your “I make the best vegetarian chili you’ve ever had” entry
🔥 Your excuse to finally show off that elaborate camp kitchen

There are separate Meat Chili and Vegetarian Chili categories, with both Judges’ Choice and People’s Choice awards.

Judges’ Choice winners in each category receive a pair of passes to any weekend of the 2027 Kerrville Folk Festival, plus embroidered winner aprons. People’s Choice winners take home embroidered aprons and, naturally, eternal campground braggin’ rights.

Entry is $20 per chili, per team, and all chili is cooked on-site at Quiet Valley Ranch.

And the People’s Choice tasting isn’t happening in some fenced-off cookoff arena. Tasters will follow a treasure map around the Ranch, visit participating camps, sample the goods, and vote for their favorites.

Registration closes October 15 so we can get everyone onto the tasting map.

If you’ve been thinking about entering, this is your sign.

Full rules + registration: kerrvillefolkfestival.org/chili/

10/09/2026

Happy Friday, y’all! 🍂

The Quiet Valley Homecoming campground schedule is starting to take shape, and we’re getting excited about what’s already on the books for October 23–25.

So far, we’ve got:
• Polekat’s Birthday Party (10/22)
• Mum’s the Word: Kerr-Style Mum Making
• Sunset Happy Hour Open Mic at Kerrtry
• Dolly and Tim Double Feature Picture Show
• QVR Disc Golf Safari
• People’s Choice Chili Tasting
• Chili Cookoff Winners Announcement
• Kerrville Merch Fire Sale with everything $5–$10 to benefit the KFF Foundation Endowment

And this is just the beginning!

Quiet Valley Homecoming is meant to be camp-led and community-driven, so we want to know what YOU want to host.

Two-step lessons? A kickball game? Sunday silly-hat brunch? A song circle? Storytelling hour? Craft project? Shared meal? Morning meditation? Something delightfully specific that could only happen at your camp?

If you’ve got an idea that’s open to the Homecoming community, send us the who, what, when, and where and we’ll add it to the schedule online and at the Kerrtry Store.

Event details, schedule, and campground event submissions here:
kerrvillefolkfestival.org/qvhc-camp-events

Can’t wait to see y’all at the Ranch!

10/08/2026

Quiet Valley Homecoming is just around the corner! 🍂

Join us at Quiet Valley Ranch Oct 23–25 for a relaxed fall campout with campfires, community-led gatherings, a variety of hosted camp activities, and plenty of room to make your own fun!

October is a beautiful time of year at the Ranch, and we’re looking forward to a slower, cooler weekend back under the trees with our Kerrville community. As a bonus, we’ll even get a full moon on Sunday night, October 25, peaking at 11:11 p.m.

This is not a traditional festival. There won’t be a full lineup or the usual festival programming structure. Think of it as a weekend back at the Ranch with friends, music, food, and whatever the campground decides to create.

Weekend passes are $35 online or $40 at the gate, and ticket-holders may arrive as early as noon on Thursday, October 22 at no additional cost.

Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin rolling out more of the activities, campground events, additional Chili Cookoff details, and other fun things planned for the weekend.

Quiet Valley Homecoming
October 23–25, 2026
Quiet Valley Ranch

Tickets + details at kerrvillefolkfestival.org
📸

09/23/2026

It’s SWRFA time, y’all! 🎶

We’re in Austin and ready to kick off the 2026 Southwest Regional Folk Alliance Conference!

Come say hi tonight at New World Deli for the opening Open Mic, where names go in the hat and songs come out. 🎩🎵

We’re looking forward to a few days of great songs, old friends, new friends, and catching up with so many members of our extended folk family. See y’all at SWRFA!

08/28/2026

Put this one on the bucket list, y’all. ✨🏜️🎶

If you’ve ever dreamed of taking your love of great songs on the road, may we suggest a pilgrimage to one of our sister festivals: Moab Folk Festival, happening in the truly otherworldly landscape of Moab, Utah.

And this lineup?! Rising Appalachia, Leftover Salmon, Craigie, Poltz, Bonnie Paine and so many more, surrounded by red rock cliffs, wide-open skies, and some of the most bizarrely beautiful scenery on planet Earth... ummm YES, PLEASE!

Independent music festivals like ours are special little ecosystems, built with a whole lot of heart, community, and people who believe gathering together around live music still matters. So if a fall road trip is calling your name, go see what our friends in Moab are creating.

Support independent festivals. See incredible music. Wander somewhere spectacular. Make some new friends. Come home with stories to tell around the Kerrville campfires!

Learn more about the Moab Folk Festival and start plotting that road trip!

✨Don’t miss this year’s amazing lineup! Moab Folk Festival 2026: November 6-8 in stunning Moab, UT 🏜️

Tickets are on sale & the full performance schedule is live! https://www.moabfolkfestival.com/tickets

🌵: Desert illustrations by our 2026 Poster Artist, Madeleine Greeson

08/12/2026

It would be so cool to do a screening at the Ranch!

Mike Williams, songwriter and performer, was at a party in Aspen, C...

08/06/2026

🌶️ Time to fire up the camp kitchens and put your chili where your mouth is.

Kerrville camps are known for some pretty elaborate outdoor kitchens, and this fall, it’s time to put them to the test!

The Quiet Valley Chili Cookoff is happening Saturday, October 24, with separate Meat Chili and Vegetarian Chili categories. This won’t be a traditional cookoff arena. Teams will prepare and serve their entries from their own campsites, and tasters will follow a map around Quiet Valley Ranch to sample the goods and vote for their favorites.

Compete for Judges’ Choice and People’s Choice honors, embroidered winner aprons, braggin’ rights, and, for our Judges’ Choice winners, a pair of passes to any weekend of the 2027 Kerrville Folk Festival!

Entry is $20 per chili, per team. Teams may enter once in each category with a separate registration and fee for each entry. All chili must be prepared on-site, and you’ll want to bring more than a household crockpot if you plan to keep the tasting public happy.

So gather your cooking crew, dust off the ol secret recipe, and show us what your camp kitchen can do.

Registration, full rules, prizes, and food-safety requirements are available now at kerrvillefolkfestival.org/chili.
📸

07/29/2026

Can’t wait for SWRFA and we are so excited for this lineup of official showcases!

Southwest Regional Folk Alliance 26th annual SWRFA conferenceSeptember 23rd-27th, 2026Austin, TX Building and Strengthening the Folk Music CommunityThe Southwest Regional Folk Alliance (SWRFA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to build and strengthen the community around folk music and s...

07/28/2026

Welcome Home, festival family!

This October, join us for Quiet Valley Homecoming: A Weekend of Campfires, Community, and Kerrville Spirit.

This is a campout, not a festival. No traditional lineup. No packed programming schedule. Just a laid-back weekend back at the Ranch with campfires, community, a few surprises, and plenty of room for our Kerrville friends to make their own fun.

Camps are encouraged to host their own gatherings: hoot nights, song circles, art demos, shared meals, storytelling, creative workshops, or whatever Kerrville magic you’d like to bring. Let us know what you’re planning, and we’ll list community-led events on the webpage.

🌶️ We’ll also be hosting a Chili Cookoff with both meat and vegetarian categories. Details and sign-ups coming next week.

Weekend passes are $35 per person for the whole weekend. This small impact fee helps cover the basic costs of having folks on the Ranch.

Come camp, come reconnect, and come home to the Ranch this October.

More info at kerrvillefolkfestival.org

07/16/2026

Our hearts are heavy watching another round of flooding impact so many communities across the Hill Country.

To our Kerrville Folk Festival family who call these areas home, we’re thinking of you.

If you’re comfortable sharing, would you check in below and let us know:
💚 Where you are
💚 How you’re doing
💚 Whether your home or property has been affected
💚 If you need help, or if you’re safe and simply want to let your festival family know.

And if you’re able to lend a hand, keep an eye on the comments. Sometimes the greatest gift we can offer is helping a neighbor, sharing resources, or simply reminding someone they’re not alone.

This community has always shown up for one another. We’re hoping everyone is safe, and we’re holding space for those facing another difficult day.

We’re thinking of all of you. ❤️