Another Ramble Fest in the books, this was one for the ages. From three strong closing acts to the many quality bands leading up to the finale, this was one of the best lineups ever. Hats off to organizers Brick and Jay and the plethora of folks in the supporting cast. Not too many details were missed and everyone was having a great time.
After a smooth transition into the campground and receiving my credentials, Friday started off with the Naptown Brass Band and continued until the California Honeydrops closed out the main stage around 11 PM. The festivities were not soon over as the late night jam was happening till the wee hours in the morning some of Friday’s highlights for me, Morgan Tripp Band, Treesap, Cris Jacobs Band and the Wilson Springs Hotel.
On Saturday morning, festivities started with Scrambled Greg doing a kid set going through the full day and finishing with Pigeons Playing Ping Pong finishing up around 11 PM, and again the late night set lasted till the wee hours of the morning. Saturday’s highlights were huge, with The Deer Creek Sharp Shooters, another awesome set by the Plate Scrapers, with The Brothers Comatose and finishing with Pigeons Playing Ping Pong.
This leaves of Sunday, the final day, Pappy from Cabinet opened up with the kids set and some retrospective into how life is as a traveling musician. Then all three stages were hopping until the finale of the double set of The Infamous Stringdusters. Once again you had the Ramble Fam-Jam starring at 11:30 PM and lasting till early Sunday morning. Highlights for this day for me was Yarn, awesome band, the Ramble Plays Dead featuring Cris Jacobs and Dogs in a Pile, The Tan & Sober Gentleman was probably the most energetic band I saw all weekend, magnificent, and of course The Stringdusters ended the outdoor festivities.
To sum up the weekend all I can say it was a pleasure to feel the unity and friendship of this festival. Hats off to the many volunteers, sound technicians, security, vendors and medical personnel who went above and beyond to make everything happen smoothly.
And I will leave you with the phrase: “Fun is Fun”
See ya next year 2026, tickets are already for sale!
Check out more photos of the 2025 Ramble Festival. All photos are copyright Frank Thompson:
Nice work. Stage lighting is difficult to deal with and these are really nice and sharp.