Golden Road Gathering
Placerville
May 15 – 17, 2026
Photos by Paul Piazza
The 4th annual Golden Road Gathering was a huge triumph. Great weather, exceptional vibes and an unbelievable music line-up made for a fantastic weekend in Placerville. The event, held at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds, has rapidly ascended to become a go-to spring festival on the West Coast. It’s a family-friendly festival that is easy to navigate, has phenomenal music choices and continues to swell with vibrant creativity throughout the event.
This year’s lineup featured a trio of exceptional headliners, starting off a lengthy, funkified set by Lettuce on Friday night that dipped into a bit of Michael Jackson’s musical legacy with a nod to “Thriller” and a myriad of other classics from the pop superstar’s career. Apparently, a few of the Lettuce gents had been inspired after seeing the Michael Jackson movie earlier that day, and keyboardist Nigel Hall’s Jackson’s t-shirt was difficult to spot from afar. The band has been on a huge roll these last few years with while reimagining many of their own compositions while performing in impressive collaborations with symphonies throughout the U.S. These have been termed “symphonic funk.” Prior to this night however, it had been a while since the group had played a proper West-Coast headlining festival set, and there is no doubt they delivered in the best possible way.
On Saturday night, livetronica legends STS9 closed things out on the outdoor stage by doubling down with two spectacular, laser-filled sets that had the crowd grooving heavily. STS9, which stands for Sound Tribe Sector 9, have been touring for close to 30 years and continue to seamlessly blend instrumental rock with EDM aesthetics. The outdoor stage concluded on Sunday night with the beloved jam crew of Leftover Salmon bringing things to a final crescendo with an array of tasty tunes and singalongs. In between, there were incredibly memorable sets by Cimafunk, Chali 2na, Cut Chemist, and The Brothers Comatose. There was also the main stage debut by Blu Egyptian,who were joined by Junior Toots for a reggafied set.
In between all of those sets, other bands would fire up immediately for tweener sets on the nearby Keep Smilin’ Stage. Some of the highlights on that one included the festival debut of Sacramento’s jazz/hip-hop curators Lab Rats and a pair of hot sets by young Bay Area guitar prodigy Bella Rayne and her band. They were joined by saxophonist Chris Hoog, who as an artist at large, sat in with many others throughout the weekend. It must be noted that aside from the great national and international acts, one of the things the festival has managed to do over its four-year course, is to bring an outstanding representation of musical variety from multiple regions of Northern California as well as the Tahoe and Reno area represented as well.
Once the outdoor stage portion of the day concluded, there were some incredible late-night sets that commenced at 11:30 and continued into the wee hours. The first one was an epic Friday night and featured the future groove explosion of Lespecial, the progtronic power trio who are rapidly ascending the music world. They were followed by the great High Step Society. Saturday night featured beat maestros The Polish Ambassador and Boombox with a special Boombassador collaboration sandwiched in the middle. This was perfect for the late night dance crowd, many of whom had also just witnessed a great fire dancing show after STS9. Sunday concluded with a pair high voltage sets by Boot Juice followed by Moxie Barker.
This year, the music had started off early for those who arrived on Thursday night. On the pre-opening night, there were excellent sets by Little Hurricane and Yak Attack. Another nuanced musical option during this festival was the Lazwell Stage. This was a musician-driven affair nestled in the artist camping area. It featured many of the recent festival favorites including Ten Foot Tiger and members of The Gold Souls and naturally, Lazwell and his groove tribe. This was in a smaller setting, but had a proper schedule posted, which made it nice for planning. Throughout, it featured a rotating jam format that featured a variety of festival players sitting in with a particular band for a spell. This swelled with the later sets.
Indeed, things were bustling all weekend. But for those who sought a slow-down for recovery and growth, there was a Golden Road to Wellness schedule. This featured yoga, breathing exercises, a sound bath, and other options in the earlier part of the day. Additionally, there was a Kids Music Showcase in the early part of the day for the future generations of musicians. There were also plenty of excellent food choices in the food court and quite a few people putting on their own gourmet spreads of meals and snacks in the camps. It has become one of those festivals where you can go as hard as you want or simply relax and enjoy the good vibes atmosphere.
Thus, heading into its fifth year, many are already planning for, and anticipating, another enchanting affair. It feels good that this festival has become a mainstay for many, as it continues to exemplify the creative independent spirit so necessary to the music and cultural universe as we travel headlong into the future.
