Few things are better than live music, a cold beverage, and summertime vibes with your friends. Thankfully, Walla Walla offers a superior setting for this magic little combination. With a calendar’s worth of live music to accompany your visit, consider the following selection of happenings around town to provide the soundtrack to your stay this summer.
See the Visit Walla Walla event calendar for a comprehensive list of all music events in the area, including many local wineries that host performances.
Ongoing
When warm weekend evenings officially arrive, you’ll find a sizable slice of locals sprawled on picnic blankets and enjoying dinner and wine alfresco on the green, grassy lawn at Tranche. Local and regional bands, solo performers, and acts from more distant locales such as Portland, Boise, and Seattle regularly take the stage most Fridays and Saturdays from April through October, playing every genre imaginable, from rock and blues, to indie, jazz, folk and more. Bring a picnic, or enjoy a meal from a rotating schedule of local food trucks. Fridays and Saturdays, April through October. Times vary. Tranche, 705 Berney Dr., Free.
Downtown Walla Walla comes alive in the summer as buskers play on street corners, music wafts from street-side tasting rooms such as Henry Earl Estate Wines and Plumb Cellars, and local parks bustle with dancing and families enjoying time together. On Saturday nights, head to Heritage Square for the Downtown Walla Walla Foundation’s Summer Concert Series for two sets of live music featuring local and regional acts performing music of all styles, from rock to pop to cover songs. If you see local centenarian Louis ‘Val’ Valiante there, shaking his maracas and encouraging you to dance, do it—it is a Walla Walla rite of passage. Saturdays, July–September. 5–7 p.m and 8–10 p.m. Heritage Square, 116 E Main, downtownww.com/summer-concert-series. Free.
May 2025
Alabama singer-songwriter Jason Isbell kicks off the Wine Country Amphitheater’s summer music season when he rolls through town in support of his tenth solo album, Foxes in the Snow, a stripped down collection of 11 intimate tracks featuring only his vocals and acoustic guitar. With his long-time band, the 400 Unit, Isbell will likely flesh out at least some of his new material with the lush and gritty roots rock that has become his hallmark. Thursday, May 15, 7:30 p.m. Wine Country Amphitheater, 201 E Rees Ave., $60.
Memorial Day weekend, the 3rd annual Walla Walla Music Fest brings upstart country artist Jackson Dean, Tim McGraw tribute outfit, VegasMcGraw, and plenty more country and Christian acts to the Walla Walla Fairgrounds. A demolition derby, a car show, loads of food vendors, beer, wine, games, and more round out the action-packed festivities. Friday, May 30–Sunday, June 1st. Times vary. Walla Walla County Fairgrounds, 363 Orchard St., wallawallafest.com. $20–$90; veterans free.
June 2025
The Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival, held biannually in January and June since 2007, is a cherished local tradition that brightens winter’s dark days and celebrates summer’s promise with intimate concerts of classical music. This season, 35 musicians from across North America convene to play as soloists and in ensembles at wineries and on stages throughout Walla Walla, playing pieces familiar to obscure, in expected and unexpected settings, and often, via the most creative arrangements you can imagine. “Think beatboxing flute and hip-hop trio,” says festival founder and violist, Timothy Christie. June 5–28. Times, venues, and prices vary. wwcmf.org
Also the frontman for nu metal rock band, Staind, Aaron Lewis returns to Walla Walla Amphitheater after his first 2022 appearance, this time with his twangy, steel guitar-studded band, the Stateliners, in tow. Lewis’ new album, The Hill, has received mixed reviews, and its conservative bent might not be for everyone, but its grander thesis—aging and being over “the hill”—is a universal language. Friday, June 13th. 7:00 p.m. Wine Country Amphitheater, 201 E Rees Ave., $130.
Local singer-songwriters Mari Gisele and McKenzie Lindsey (who performs as Calico Bones with her sister, Madison) co-founded this year’s first Freya Fair as a showcase for female artists, as well as the greater community of LGBTQ+ and other underrepresented individuals in music. Inspired by Lilith Fair, the female-fronted travelling music festival that had a big impact on Gisele when she attended as a teen, the family-friendly, all day event features live music from female artists and women-centric bands from across the Northwest, as well as women-owned food vendors, fire-dancing, and craft zero-proof cocktails along with Dragon’s Gate beloved farmhouse-style ales. Sunday, June 22nd. 11 a.m.–9 p.m. Dragon’s Gate Brewery, 52288 Sunquist Rd, Milton Freewater, freyafair.org. $60 and up. Kids 5 and under free.
July 2025
Celebrate the 4th, and a uniquely American style of roots music, at Red, White and Bluegrass. Forest Ray, a self-called “folk n roll” band from Seattle, and Walla Walla’s own Rogue Lobster will perform Americana classics alongside local food vendors, lawn games, and wines for sale by the glass or bottle. Enjoy the good vibes of lively string music floating on the summer breeze, and if you don’t hear “Wagon Wheel,” make sure to request it. Saturday, July 5. 5–8 p.m. Canvasback, 1825 JB George Rd, canvasbackwine.com. $25.
Now in its 4th year, the Blood of the Gods Merrymaking heavy metal music and wine festival is always a blast of decibel-shredding fresh air. This year, what’s billed as a “no holds barred speaking panel featuring wine and music luminaries” such as Alexis Mincolla of Seattle industrial metal band 3Teeth, and local band manager-turned-winemaker, Charles Smith, precedes the main merrymaking grand wine tasting, while the afterparty show featuring Seattle metalcore act Heiress and an as-yet unannounced headliner, are sure to wrap things up on a hard and heavy note. Saturday, July 19. Times, venues, and prices vary. Tickets and details here.
Fiddle virtuoso and angel-voiced Alison Krauss closes out the summer lineup at the Walla Walla Amphitheater, reunited with a version of her longtime band, Union Station, for the first time since 2011 when they recorded their last album (Paper Airplane) together. True to the name of her latest release, Arcadia—the Greek word for utopia—Krauss has assembled an idyllic group of musicians at the top of their game, including dobro and lap steel guitarist Jerry Douglas, who shares the bill. With Willie Watson. Tuesday, July 22. Wine Country Amphitheater, 201 E Rees Ave., $72.50.
August 2025
Fans of musicals will love Walla Walla Summer Theater, a once-a-summer theatrical treat that punches well above its weight, attracting talented performers from across the country. This year, Little Shop of Horrors takes the stage, with Broadway’s Brad Willicuts (Amazing Grace) as Seymour, Lillie Eliza Thomas (1776) as Audrey, and theater director and stage veteran, Tyson Kaup, as Audrey II, the singing potted plant with a thirst for blood. Monday, July 7th–Thursday, July 17th. Times and prices vary. Gesa Power House Theatre, 111 North 6th Ave. Tickets and details here.
It wouldn’t be summer in Walla Walla without Walla Walla Fair & Frontier Days. Show animals and produce exhibits, a rodeo, carnival rides, a parade, demolition derby, and of course, a marquee concert—this year Mississippi rock outfit 3 Doors Down, known for post-grunge hits such as “Kryptonite,” “Here Without You,” and “When I’m Gone”—fill the schedule at this annual end-of-summer blowout. Wednesday, August 27th–Sunday, August 31st. Walla Walla County Fairgrounds, 363 Orchard St. Times and prices vary.