A Weekend of Country in The Falls: Misty City Music Festival 2026 in Niagara Falls, ON [Photos]

After the inaugural year of Misty City Music Festival last year, fans were stoked to find out what the organizers were working on behind the scenes and in their second year, the festival has managed to create arguably the best country festival in the country, with three nights of nothing but country music and headliners who have never been to the area before.

This year, the festival stuck with the main-stage and side-stage setup, but had the set times fit perfectly so there were very few times during the day when an artist wasn’t playing. This maximized the opportunities for all artists to have a chance to shine in front of an audience. However, the festival started on the main stage with Savannah Jade.

Jade has seen a fast rise lately; with her single “Kiss My Glass,” it has taken not only English audiences by storm, but also the French audience with her collaboration with Marie-Mai. The song has become the line-dancing anthem in Canada, so it was no surprise that a lot of the crowd were partaking in line dancing all set long.

Over on the side stage, Misty City got their first taste of some local talent from the Niagara region with Evan Burrison. Debuting in 2024, Burrison has hit a stride in 2026 with his numerous releases and has solidified himself as a country artist to watch out for. He hasn’t released his debut album, but when it releases, you can expect to find it on Canadian country charts.

Next up is Blake Whiten, a name in country music who has become notorious for his raspy and unique voice. He blew up on TikTok with his Morgan Wallen cover and since then has been able to take the momentum from millions of views and turn it into an opening slot with Bailey Zimmerman and Morgan Wallen, a Grand Ole Opry debut, and his very own headlining tour. And today, he joined the same stage that many of country music’s biggest artists will take on throughout the weekend.

Back over to the side stage, another local talent took the stage. Ryan Langdon is a Niagara-based artist who has seen his releases on the Billboard charts, and he has been able to build a strong fanbase, especially with the locals. With a country sound that just makes you want to dance and have fun, it was no surprise the side stage vibes were simply a good time. Whether he was singing or cracking a beer with the crowd, he kept the vibes high and the beers flowing.

Dylan Marlowe took the main stage as the second-to-last artist of the night. With a crowd that could fill most music venues in the province, you would think that Marlowe was the headliner of the event. He brought a rock sound with songs from his 80 Acres project, and a cover of Foo Fighters and Lynyrd Skynyrd songs. Marlowe saved his biggest hit for last with “Boys Back Home,” a song that the crowd was able to sing back to him.

To close out the side stage of the first night, Alli Walker brought out her electric bagpipes and a load of covers to get the crowd singing and warmed up for the headliner over on the main stage. Whether it was a Queen cover or one by Dropkick Murphys, she was able to turn anything into a guitar solo using her electric bagpipes, and it has become a core aspect of her identity.

Lastly, for night one, the main stage ended with Jake Owen, best known for his song “Barefoot Blue Jean Night.” Since his debut in 2006, Owen has made multiple chart-topping hits and the setlist he brought to Misty City was a perfect example of it.

He kicked the set off with a hit, “American Country Love Song.” People who were in line to get drinks were making those bartenders hurry so they could get back to the audience. The next hit came at song six with “Down to the Honkytonk,” but by now, everyone who needed to be in the audience was there.

The setlist featured one common theme with other artists during the day and the weekend as a whole: covers. The covers for the night were “Days of Gold” by The Cadillac Three, “All My Ex’s Live in Texas” by George Strait and lastly “Where I Come From” by Alan Jackson, paying tribute to his recent retirement.

The last three songs of the set took the audience through all of his Billboard chart-toppers, first with “I Was Jack (You Were Diane) “Made For You,” and lastly, the song that everyone in the crowd knew, “American Blue Jean Night.” After a strong start on night one, country music fans in Niagara Falls were excited for the remaining days of the festival, with Saturday and Sunday’s lineups being bigger and arguably stronger.

For me, Day two kicked off with Jade Hilton. I was late to the party, but the festival actually kicked off with June Mayflood, Paige Penney and Carter Faith, who all attracted large crowds with a lineup spanning the entire block for multiple hours into the festival’s start time.

Jade Hilton is another rising star in Canada, hailing from Toronto. She’s been featured in most of Ontario’s biggest country events like Boots and Hearts, the CMAOntario Bonfire, and now Misty City Music Festival. With a sound that puts you right in the feeling of a dive bar, many people in the crowd had a drink in their hands.

Over on the main stage, the best spree of artists (in my opinion) kicked off with Lonestar. Over 30 years of chart-topping hits and songwriting that can make you feel every emotion possible; I’m surprised I didn’t see these guys earlier.

I grew up listening to many songs from Lonestar, and the way they sounded in the 2000s is still the way they sound now. Clearly, they’ve taken care of their vocals, because three decades later they still sound like the records, and you can’t say that for every artist that tours nowadays. Frontman Dean Sams was experiencing issues with his in-ears, but that didn’t stop him from having a good time.

The group played a lot of their hits in a ballad, mixing many of them together because their discography was simply too large for the amount of time they had. They mixed “Everything’s Changed,” “Smile,” “Not a Day Goes by,” and “Tell Her” together. Playing a little bit at a time and mixing them together so it felt like a seamless transition. But the one hit they couldn’t mix with anything else was the song they closed with: “Amazed.”

With an extended chorus so the crowd could sing it back to them, Lonestar finished off their set with the track that gave them global attention. And after a 50-minute trip down memory lane, Lonestar closed their set and made a statement.

Over on the side stage, Ethan Miller and his acoustic guitar took the stage. This was surprisingly the first acoustic set of the weekend, and even after he brought his cousin in to play second guitar, there was never a full band. This was his final Canadian show until he embarks on a tour in the Oceanic region, with nothing but his voice and an acoustic guitar backing him.

Over on the main stage, an artist with over a decade of hits and consistency took the stage. Dustin Lynch kicked off his set with “Honkey Tonk Heartbreaker” in full force. This was a setlist full of hits as well; in fact more than half of the set was hits that made it high on the charts.

Lynch also gave Niagara Falls a preview of some new music with “Made In A Bottle,” released just weeks before Misty City. It is a single off of his upcoming album Clean Slate, set to release in late October.

Mixed in with the hits were covers, similar to other artists all weekend. For this set, the covers included “It Just Comes Natrual” by George Strait and “Mountain Music” by Alabama, before wrapping up his set with “Small Town Boy.”

Dawson Gray wrapped things up over on the side stage, giving multiple shoutouts to the bartender throughout the weekend and getting the crowd ready for the headliner. The set at Misty City concluded his “Road To Misty Tour” and acted as a pre-show for his upcoming “Bar’s Gone Now Tour,” which will begin on October 2nd and will take him across Western Canada.

To close out Saturday night on the main stage, Mr. Saturday Night came out to party. One of the kings of beer-drinking music, Jon Pardi, hit the stage with “Out of Style,” but the party ramped up with “Tequila Little Time.”

This setlist was arguably the most star-studded of the weekend. With a 10 pm curfew set in place, it would’ve been impossible for Jon Pardi to fit everything he wanted to into the hour-and-fifteen time slot they were given. So he did what any other person would do: completely ignored it. The 22-song setlist ran well past curfew, but you were going to have to shut down the power if you were taking Jon Pardi out unfinished, especially on a Saturday night.

The hits played are too long to list; I mean, this was a 22-song setlist, and I don’t think there was a single song where everybody in the crowd wasn’t singing at the top of their lungs. It wouldn’t be a country song without covers, though; this set included “Somebody’s Doin’ Me Right” by Keith Whitley and “My Girl” by The Temptations.

The final three songs of the setlist included a song that Pardi calls one of his favourite songs he’s ever written, “Gamblin’ Man;” the song is also the name of his ongoing tour, despite being a track released on his 2025 album Honkytonk Hollywood. “Heartache on the Dance Floor” was next, and lastly, “Head Over Boots.”

Pardi brought a setlist, and a set in general, that everyone in the crowd will remember forever, with the 10 pm curfew being completely ignored and Mr. Saturday Night doing his thing on a Saturday night. It just can’t get any better, and somehow fans were blessed with another day of country music after two insane days.

Saturday kicked off with Steven James Porter, Benny Douglas, and Hailey Benedict. Similar to Saturday, these artists attracted large crowds; by the time I walked in, it looked like a sold-out crowd already.

Avery Anna took the main stage by storm, with her quick rise to global stardom in country music and her cover of “No More Tears” by Ozzy Osbourne taking over the hearts of rock, metal, and country fans and going viral all over social media. It was a loud crowd, and between the stage antics, the music, and the crowd, Avery Anna brought a perfect mix to the main stage.

Midway through the set, Anna whipped out her alter ego, Lil Debbie. This is your stereotypical trailer park trash white rapper who comes out to cover Miley Cyrus and Vanilla Ice. This was another stunt that has gone viral on social media, with the hashtag “Free Lil Debbie” trending on various occasions, referring to the backstory where Lil Debbie is locked in the trailer and is only freed for a few minutes at each Avery Anna show.

Recently, her song “Indigo” with Sam Barber has skyrocketed to the charts and has become a fan favourite for each of the artists; she acknowledged the massive attention the song got before playing it second-to-last. She then closed her set out with “Make It Look Easy,” a rock-country song that really drives those riffs.

Have you heard of Josh Stumpf? If you haven’t, you will soon. He’s seen an insane rise lately in the world of Canadian country music. My first introduction to him was hearing him all the time at work with his track “Highway Money,” but after his track “Johnnie Walker (Back To Me),” he’s received a lot of attention from country music fans.

He rushed back from the CCMA Award Ceremony in Saskatoon, where he was nominated for a Fan Choice Award, to Niagara Falls on the same weekend to catch the Misty City Music Festival, and delivered a set that will have a couple more eyes on him from fans in the crowd.

Over on the main stage, Jackson Dean brought his signature sound to Niagara Falls. He’s been on a run supporting his album Magnolia Sage, released back in April. Best known for his tracks “Fearless” and “Don’t Come Lookin,” which he closed with. Dean is no stranger to the headliner and actually opened for him during their reunion tour back in 2022, so it’s a no brainer he would be on this festival.

The side stage had one more act of the weekend in Andrew Hyatt. The 2022 “CCMA Rising Star of the Year” winner has become a fan favourite with his mixture of sad songs and storytelling of real scenarios. He speaks for those who don’t have a voice and is not afraid to discuss his troubled history and how he’s turned it around. He’s been one of Canada’s most impactful storytellers with his raw writing and openness.

The final act of the weekend is one of country music’s biggest acts of all time, making their Niagara Falls debut at this year’s Misty City Music Festival. Brooks & Dunn, 36 years after their formation and six years after their reunion tour. The headliner that nobody expected, but the headliner that nobody complained about.

Brooks & Dunn kicked into overdrive with “Brand New Man,” and with a festival packed front to back with country music fans, you could hear more yelling than the band themselves. Brooks & Dunn have a legacy that cannot be ignored and have cemented themselves as one of the best, if not the best, country duos to exist.

Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks are both over 70, but they sing like they are in their prime all over again. Ronnie Dunn talked about being sick after his show in Nashville and not being 100 percent recovered, but unless he told the crowd, nobody would be able to figure it out. These two sound like they have an infinite amount of time left with their vocals.

This setlist was a compilation of their greatest hits album, everything from “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” to “Neon Moon;” everything that was played was considered a hit, with the majority of them hitting #1 on the charts. Although there were a few notable exceptions that were left off the setlist like “Indian Summer” and “Believe.”

The final song of the weekend was the ultimate dancing song, and once that first note was heard, all of the bars in the area prepared for the impact that was going to occur once the last note was played. “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” was the band’s defining track off their debut album in 1991 and has become a genre-defining song since its release. It’s one for the line dancers and the party people, and it ended Misty City Music Festival on the highest note possible.

Once Brooks & Dunn wrapped up, the video board gave a message, revealing that plans for 2027 were in the works. But one question rose once 2027 was confirmed: “How in the world are they going to top 2026?” Misty City Music Festival has set the bar so high with their 2026 iteration, and plans to come back stronger in 2027 seem unrealistic, but fans are eager to see what they have behind the scenes.

Misty City Music Festival brought a weekend filled with country music to Niagara Falls and gave fans a weekend that will never be topped. In only their second year, they have solidified themselves as one of the best country festivals in the country, if not the best for some people, and with no signs of stopping, all country music fans in the country should have Misty City Music Festival on their plans for 2027.