Deep in a secluded holler in Eastern Kentucky lives the kind of music festival that most would be inclined to assume does not or could not exist anymore in the modern day.

Absent at this music festival are the usual trimmings one would assume of 2025's mega festivals: brand activations, influencer tents, levels of VIP access and $15+ beers. In its place is an intimate testament to the foundations of country, bluegrass and folk music that has served as a de facto incubator for some truly prominent names to come out of the genres over the last few years.

For three days spanning June 12-14 in Pineville, KY., a special exhibition of music and art known as Laurel Cove Music Festival occupied a hemlock, mountain laurel and rhododendron-covered venue many have likened to Colorado's famous Red Rocks Amphitheater due to its stunning beauty and natural acoustics. What lived in these woods for that time was a bustling community of musicians and music enthusiasts as eager to strike up a conversation about their favorite Tyler Childers song as they are to pick up an instrument and play it with you.

Laurel Cove Music Festival's 2025 edition was arguably its biggest and brightest to date in terms of the amount of talent that signed up on the bill. Though inopportune weather hindered performances on Friday night, the festival's intimacy allowed for a unique continuation of the party that larger competitors such as Bonnaroo, which occurred the same weekend and had to be canceled entirely due to flooding, would not have been able to accomplish logistically.

Performers tapped for this year rounded out the best of who you need to know coming up in the industry, as well as some established names from Kentucky, greater Appalachia and beyond. The standout lineup included headliners Ole 60, Ian Noe and Town Mountain and support from Nicholas Jamerson, Kaitlin Butts, Evan Honer, Colby Acuff, Kashus Culpepper, Noeline Hofmann, The Droptines and Kindred Valley.

Also brought on to take part in Laurel Cove 2025 were Jack Browning, The Creekers, Bill Taylor, Smilo + The Ghost, Hunter Flynn, The Hill Country Devil, Bee Taylor, Zach Russell, Jordan Lee King, The Jenkins Twins, Dalton Mills, Chatham Rabbits, Emily Jamerson, Tori Forsyth, Bedford, Spooky Fox, Charlie Overman, Noah Freeman & The Cherry Daves and Brayden Mullins.

Only about 1,500 tickets are available to Laurel Cove, with the festival selling out before a lineup is even released each year. There are no plans to expand currently, and those looking to secure their place among some of the most die-hard country, bluegrass and folk fans in America can only hope to act quickly enough to get their hands on passes.

As previously hinted, rain was an unannounced headliner at Laurel Cove 2025, with adjustments having to be made, particularly during Friday's programming, that sadly saw Noe unable to perform. However, for such an intimate crowd, it became almost a no-brainer to relocate the entirety of the festival to a large park picnic overhang, where soaked-but-happy fans danced in mud puddles as fellow headliner Honer acoustically performed "Jersey Giant," "idk s--- about cars" and other hits.

But even when rain shut down traditional stages, Laurel Cove's dedicated fandom still found a way to make things work. Take the band Bedford, who decided to perform an impromptu show from inside their tour van to a group of captivated fans who huddled in the rain on the side of a dirt road for a chance to hear a few acoustic numbers from the Kentucky-based group with a picturesque backdrop of lightning bug flutters and frog croaks — natural magic that no stage production company could ever replicate.

When it wasn't raining, though, Laurel Cove's beauty shone through in glorious rays of light peeking through the surrounding old growth onto its shady stages. A highlight of the weekend was a standout performance from emerging Texas group The Droptines, who wowed fans with live renditions of "Raining Where You Are," "Snowed In," "New Girl" and other tracks from their self-titled 2024 debut album.

Likewise, rising crooner Culpepper, fresh off a performance on CBS Saturday Morning's Saturday Sessions, brought fans to their feet with everything from his Marcus King collaboration "Southern Man" to his viral hit "After Me?" Similarly, Butts also had the crowd roaring as she performed her TikTok staple "You Ain’t Gotta Die (to Be Dead to Me)," among other rousing renditions of her fan-favorite tracks.

Of course, it would be hard to discuss Laurel Cove 2025 and not mention Hofmann's ascension from driving 30 hours just a few years ago to attend Kentucky's Railbird Festival and Laurel Cove Music Festival as a fan to now playing both festivals nearly back-to-back in 2025. The artist is currently experiencing massive success due to her collaboration with Zach Bryan on "Purple Gas," which she treated fans to during her Laurel Cove set, and prides herself in delivering a signature vocal styling informed by a true-grit attitude honed through a life working on the Canadian prairie. With a recent Wynonna Judd cosign also under her belt, Hofmann is certainly poised to be the next major Laurel Cove success story.

What Laurel Cove Music Festival excels at is being an "anti" festival, in the best possible way. Its founder, Jon Grace, and his band of close friends who help throw the festival every year, scour the entire scope of the aforementioned relative genres to hand-pick a lineup each year that both enthralls fans and often predicts who is going to experience massive success in the coming months and years.

Take 2024's headliners, The Red Clay Strays, as an example. That year, they lit up the Cove, energizing fans to such a degree that they began dancing in the small pond that graces the front of the main stage. This year, the same group of musicians, playing the same hits, won an ACM Award, headlined Nissan Stadium during CMA Fest and are embarking on an international tour.

Other instances of this supposed Laurel Cove spell are fellow festival royalty Sierra Ferrell, Charles Wesley Godwin, Wyatt Flores and Hofmann, who all took to the stage at the event before each of their respective careers ascended to total stardom shortly thereafter, a striking testament to Grace and fellow Cove founders' ability to predict who is about to leave a true mark on the music industry.

"This year will go down as one of our most rewarding yet," Grace tells PEOPLE of 2025's event. "We're a festival built on the blood, sweat and tears of our volunteers ... not money."

The proud organizer, who also serves as the Bell County Tourism Director, adds, "When it rains at other festivals ... folks leave. When it rains here, we dance in the mud. That's why I say all the time ... there may be better festivals out there, but there's not a better festival family out there."

Grace particularly thanks "the artists, volunteers, the media that helps us get the word out, the staff at Pine Mountain State Resort Park, JammNation and our other sponsors, all our community organizations that help," from "the bottom of our hearts."

Stay tuned to Laurel Cove Music Festival's Facebook and Instagram for details about the 2026 edition of the event.