The 12th annual Walla Walla Guitar Festival is coming up this March! Friday, March 10 – Sunday, March 12, 2023 is bound to be a rockin’ time and there’s nothing that can replicate the feeling of a live performance; the energy of the performers and the crowd, the details of the venue, the light, the sound, and of course… the music!
What better way to get out and experience it for yourself than at a music festival taking place in multiple venues, featuring not just local but regional and national acts, all happening in the heart of Walla Walla!
The Walla Walla Guitar festival will include energetic performers sure to knock your socks off. This year’s headliner is the multiple Grammy Award nominated, Rock & Roll Hall-of Famer, AND Blues Hall-of-Famer Elvin Bishop! And the Friday opening concert will feature Grammy Award nominee and multiple BB Award winner, Sugaray Rayford! Also in the line up so far are the Coyote Kings with Tiphany Dames, Ben Rice, Tevis Hodge Jr., Rae Gordon, Diego Romero, The Wasteland Kings, Gary Winston & Real Deal, and many more.
Walla Walla Guitar Festival Venues
Whether you’re a local or a live music fan visiting for this energetic three-day festival, the venues are going to wow you, too. This year’s venues include The Marcus Whitman Ballroom, VFW Post 992, Walla Walla Eagles Club, AK’s Mercado, House of Smith, Dib’s on Main, Henry Earl Estates, Crossbuck Taproom, Kontos Cellars, Goose Ridge, Bontzu Cellars, and Nocking Point. These venues range from small and intimate to “kick off your shoes and dance” size. Stoked to Rock’n’Roll around Walla Walla? Buy tickets now!
For an ultra-convenient experience, book your stay at the Marcus Whitman Hotel & Conference Center where there are several live performances in their ballroom on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The other Walla Walla Guitar Festival venues are all a short walk from the Marcus Whitman as well.
Or book your stay at the Best Western Plus Walla Walla Suites Inn. Their great rates, superior service, and familiar name brand make it a natural choice for your Walla Walla Guitar Festival! Plus you can bundle your lodging and festival costs with the Best Western Plus Motel/Fest Pkg: A single Queen room at the Best Western Plus Walla Walla Suites for two, plus two passes to all the music Friday and Saturday, plus The Sunday Gospel Brunch! *Single King and Double Queen options are available for an additional charge. If you’d like to upgrade, purchase this ticket and contact The Walla Walla Suites Best Western Plus.
Just a few blocks from the heart of downtown and the concert venues, if you stay at Best Western you can break up your crawl with a stop at Crossbuck Brewing Company (also a concert venue) for an early dinner and a great locally brewed beer (they open at 4pm), or hit El Sombrero for lunch (they’re open at 11am).
Walla Walla Guitar Festival will keep you plenty busy during the three-day festival with performances from 12pm until midnight Friday and Saturday. But if you need to take a break from live music for a bit, make sure to stop downtown at Hot Poop to peruse their record selection. If sunshine is in the forecast, make a tee-time at Veteran’s Memorial Golf Course for 9 holes of laid back golf. And pit stops are important – plan to visit 2nd Street Distilling Company for a spirits tasting, and the Locus Cider Walla Walla Taproom for hard cider, cider slushees, craft beer and a great food menu that includes flatbread pizzas and savory snacks.
No matter where you stay or how you break up your festival experience, the Walla Walla Guitar Festival is the perfect way to shake off your winter blues and have, as the festival organizers have so fittingly put it, a LARGE time!
We can’t wait to see you in March.