The 24th Annual California Jug Band Festival Brings a Century-Old American Musical Tradition to Petaluma

Free all-ages music festival at Lagunitas Brewing Company features five California jug bands and an open community jam.

PETALUMA, CA — The California Jug Band Association is bringing  the 24th Annual California Jug Band Festival to Petaluma for the first time on Saturday, October 3, with a full day of free music celebrating one of America’s most distinctive and often-overlooked musical traditions.

The 2026 lineup brings together jug band musicians from throughout California, including groups from the North Bay, East Bay, and Santa Cruz area. While the participating bands perform in a variety of musical styles throughout the year, each will be leaning into its jug band repertoire for the festival.

From noon to 8 p.m., five California jug bands will perfoarm at Lagunitas Brewing Company, 1280 N. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma. The festival will feature The Trolley Drops, Rivertown Skifflers, Paradise Park Jug Band, Washboard Rhythm Co., and Five Cent Coffee. Admission is free, with donations to the California Jug Band Association’s general fund welcomed throughout the day.

The festival is an all-ages celebration of jug band music—a musical tradition built around community, improvisation, and making music with whatever is at hand. Washboards, washtub basses, kazoos, harmonicas, jugs, and other improvised instruments are as fundamental to the sound as more conventional instruments.

“Jug band music is about as unpretentious as music gets,” said Jared Emerson-Johnson, President of the California Jug Band Association’s board of directors. “It grew out of communities where people made music with what they had, and it became this incredibly creative and joyful tradition. There’s something wonderful about bringing that spirit into an art loving place like Petaluma, where the whole community can come together, listen, dance, have a beer, and maybe even pick up an instrument and join the jam.”

“We love that this festival gives us a chance to see each other and reconnect with the larger jug band community in California,” said Mary McGown, secretary of the California Jug Band Association. “It’s a pretty unusual thing to have this much jug band music in one place, played by so many of the musicians who love this tradition. And then at the end of the day, everybody gets to play together.”

The festival will conclude with an open Jug Band Jam from 7:15 to 8 p.m., inviting musicians and members of the public to join in. Dancers and listeners are welcome throughout the day, and informational stations will offer attendees an opportunity to learn more about the history of the musical tradition.

The full Lagunitas Brewing Company kitchen and taproom will be open during the festival, and on-site parking will be available in the brewery’s regular parking area. Covered space will be available in the event of rain.

All proceeds raised through festival donations will support the California Jug Band Association’s ongoing work to promote and preserve jug band music, fund future festivals, and support additional community music events. The organization hopes eventually to expand its activities to include satellite jug band festivals and gatherings throughout California.

Facebook: California Jug Band Association

https://www.facebook.com/californiajugbandassociation

MEDIA CONTACT

Jared Emerson-Johnson

President, California Jug Band Association Board of Directors

707-338-0704

cajugbandassociation@gmail.com

Members of the California Jug Band Association and participating musicians are available for interviews. Photographers are encouraged to attend.