Merge Records’ 30th Anniversary Festival Features Superchunk, The Mountain Goats, And Others

Back in 1989, Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan created a record label to release the albums by their band, Superchunk. That label was Merge Records, and 30 years later, Merge is still going strong, with a roster that includes The Mountain Goats, Wye Oak, and a bunch of others. Now Merge is celebrating that anniversary with MRG30, a festival featuring some of the finest acts that have ever been on the label.

The fest will take place from July 24 to 27 in Carrboro and Durham, North Carolina, and the lineup is expectedly stacked with indie greatness: Aside from all the aforementioned groups, also performing at the festival will be Hiss Golden Messenger, Waxahatchee, Lambchop, Ibibio Sound Machine, Destroyer, Sneaks, and Swearin’. There are more announcements to come, as the lineup will over 30 bands and will “celebrate the best of Merge, both present and future.” The label has been home to a ton of superlative artists over the past three decades, so the MRG30 lineup can only get more excellent from here.

Passes are set to go on sale on Friday, February 8, at 11 a.m. ET, so head here for more information about that. The label is also hosting an MRG30 kick-off show featuring Teenage Fanclub, Eric Bachmann, and The Love Language on March 18 at the Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw, North Carolina, and tickets for that are available now.