MINNEAPOLIS — It will be another year of modern country hitmakers and “one last ride” for a veteran act at We Fest in 2026.

Northwest Minnesota’s enduring musical campout announced its 2026 lineup on Monday with two newer stars, Lainey Wilson and Thomas Rhett, listed as headliners alongside retirement-bound duo Brooks & Dunn. The festival once again is scheduled to take place Aug. 6-8 at Soo Pass Ranch in Detroit Lakes, about 200 miles from the Twin Cities, that has been the festival’s home since its inception in 1983.

Other names on We Fest 2026’s three-day main-stage lineup include Little Big Town, Jamey Johnson, Flatland Cavalry, Nate Smith, Max McNown and one other old-timer, Randy Houser. Tickets and camping passes are now on sale via wefest.com.

We Fest could be the beginning of the end for Brooks & Dunn, who are calling their 2026 trek the One Last Ride Tour and purportedly planning to retire from touring after it’s done. The duo of “Neon Moon” and “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” fame retired once before, in 2010, but has sporadically hit the road over the last decade, most recently playing the formerly named Xcel Energy Center in 2023.

After putting in a lot of hard time opening for Kenny Chesney and Jason Aldean, Wilson and Rhett each have also graduated to arena-headliner status in recent years. Rhett is a second-generation We Fest performer since his dad, “Drivin’ My Life Away” singer Rhett Akins, also played the festival in the 1990s and 2000s.

We Fest took a downturn in the late 2010s under former owners but has rebounded post-COVID with help from Live Nation and developer/promoter Matt Mithun, whose family has long owned the Soo Pass Ranch property. Last year’s festival drew 30,000 daily attendees, organizers said. Improvements are being made to the festival site to add a fourth stage, new grandstand seats and a new hangout called the Neon Bar in 2026.

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