Blue Ridge Music Center, Music museum and open-air theatre along Blue Ridge Parkway in Grayson County, United States.
The Blue Ridge Music Center is a music museum and outdoor performance venue on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Grayson County, Virginia, with an open-air amphitheater and indoor galleries dedicated to old-time and bluegrass music. The site sits within the Appalachian mountains, combining a working concert stage with exhibit space that covers string instruments and the people who play them.
The center was developed as part of the broader Blue Ridge Parkway project, which began in the 1930s to connect mountain communities across Virginia and North Carolina. The nearby town of Galax, long known for hosting one of the oldest old-time music gatherings in the country, donated land that made the site possible.
The center sits at the Virginia and North Carolina border, a region where old-time and bluegrass music have been passed down through families for a very long time. On weekend afternoons, visitors can hear local musicians play on the outdoor stage for free, continuing the same tradition their grandparents knew.
The center is open only from May through October, so a visit works best during those months. Arriving before an evening concert allows time to walk through the indoor exhibits first and then move outside as the show begins.
The site sits at mile marker 213 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, right on the state line between Virginia and North Carolina, meaning visitors can stand with one foot in each state. This exact location was chosen because the music traditions from both sides of that line come together here in a way that no single state could represent on its own.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
