Phoebe Bridgers and Billy Strings to Headline Hinterland 2027 in Iowa

Phoebe Bridgers, Billy Strings and Slayyter will headline the 12th annual Hinterland Music Festival, running July 30 through August 1, 2027, at Roaming Hills in St. Charles, Iowa. The announcement, reported by Eric Alper, lands a lineup that scatters indie rock, bluegrass, country and contemporary pop across one rural field.

Who is playing Hinterland 2027?

The announced bill:

• Phoebe Bridgers — returning headliner
• Billy Strings — returning bluegrass headliner
• Slayyter — contemporary pop
• Zach Top — country
• Malcolm Todd — contemporary pop
• Remi Wolf — festival returnee

Bridgers and Strings last headlined Hinterland together in 2022. Remi Wolf made her festival debut in 2025. Their returns suggest the festival's organizers treat the event less like a rotating talent slot and more like a returning community — three names with Hinterland history on one poster.

Zach Top adds the country dimension. Malcolm Todd and Slayyter, per the announcement, bring "contrasting approaches to contemporary pop." The festival has, in Alper's phrasing, "developed a wonderful reputation for making those combinations feel completely natural."

What makes Hinterland's format different?

Hinterland sits roughly 30 minutes south of Des Moines and remains independently owned. Its signature move is the single-stage format: no competing sets, no timetable triage, no agonizing choice between two overlapping headliners. Every ticket holder sees every artist on the bill, which turns unfamiliar acts into low-risk discoveries rather than scheduling casualties.

The setting does the rest. Camping — tent, car or RV — puts the audience inside the experience rather than beside it.

What happens after the main stage closes?

The music doesn't stop at the headliner's last chord. The Campfire Stage hosts late-night performances in the campground, open to every ticket holder. Basecamp serves as the gathering point, with food vendors and a bar.

The daytime extras:

• HinterMarket — regional artists and makers
• Immersive art installations
• Scenic trails
• Miniland — a family-friendly experience

That bundle of extras is what separates a festival from a destination. Attendees get open skies, shared campsites and, as Alper puts it, "unexpected discoveries" that outlast any single set.

Why does this lineup matter?

The 2027 edition is built, per the announcement, "for listeners whose playlists happily jump between genres" — a polite way of saying genre walls are now a booking strategy rather than a barrier. Bridgers' restrained indie rock next to Strings' bluegrass virtuosity next to Slayyter's pop spectacle is the kind of programming that only works if the crowd trusts the curator.

Hinterland has earned that trust across eleven editions. The 2027 poster suggests a festival confident enough to book its own history — and, three summers out, fans already have a date worth travelling for.