Meet Me in Macon: Your Guide to GABBAFest 2025
A Weekend of Allman Brothers Music, Stories, and Soul
As September 25–28 rolls into Macon, so do the fans — carrying guitar cases, wearing ABB shirts from decades of tours, and buzzing with excitement to celebrate four days of music and fellowship.
For 33 years, GABBAFest has turned this town into a reunion hall for ABB devotees from across the country and around the world. It’s a homecoming, jam session, and history lesson all rolled into one fantastic, long weekend.
And it’s all heart, too.
What started as a fan-driven mission dedicated to preserve and promote the ABB’s history in Georgia has grown into a festival of homecoming and pilgrimage.
Fans don’t just come to watch music — they come to make it. Guitars, basses, and even lap steels show up in the backs of cars and get passed around late-night jams at Grant’s Lounge or strummed on the Big House lawn.
The 2025 lineup is a perfect snapshot of Southern roots and ABB-connected talent:
The Randall Bramblett Band with the Megablaster Horns
Anthony Rosano and the Conqueroos
The Restless Natives & Friends covering ABB songs plus solo material from Dickey Betts and Gregg Allman
Bonnie Blue
Macon Music Revue, performing Macon music through the decades by Otis Redding, James Brown, the ABB, Marshall Tucker Band, Wet Willie, and more, with stories about each of the acts they’re covering
Jesse Williams Band
Garrett Collins Project
The GABBA Members Jam
And in true GABBA fashion, much of it is free: the Gallery West and Fresh Produce opening receptions, the Saturday Members Jam on the Big House outdoor pavilion stage, the Sunday “GABBA Hangover” show, even the tree dedication at Rose Hill Cemetery — all open to the public.
It’s Macon at its best: music in the air, friends on the lawn, and history underfoot.
Enter Kyler Mosely: Your Original GABBAFest Guide
If you want to truly understand GABBAFest, you need to know Kyler Mosely. He’s GABBA’s president and a living, breathing encyclopedia of Southern Rock. Kyler’s favorite part of GABBAFest isn’t just the music — it’s the people. He’s met fans from across the world, from Macon to Melbourne, and even hosted Aussies for weeks as their “home base” for a Southern music pilgrimage.
“The positive vibe of fans from all over enjoying great music, fun, fellowship as fans of the Allman Brothers and related bands…” Kyler says, “that’s what makes this weekend so special.”
Kyler is quick to point out that GABBAFest wouldn’t happen without its volunteers. From the folks who greet you at the Gallery West door, to the ones pouring drinks, running sound, setting up chairs at the Big House lawn, and guiding fans through Rose Hill Cemetery, it’s truly a team effort.
“The whole town gets involved,” he says — and it shows. Local businesses donate time and goods, musicians pitch in, and neighbors roll up their sleeves to make sure every visitor feels welcome. It’s that spirit of generosity that keeps GABBAFest running like a well-oiled machine and gives it the down-home warmth fans talk about long after the weekend is over.
This is GABBAFest: Macon turns into one big living room and strangers feel like family by the end of the weekend.
What to Expect at GABBAFest 2025
This year’s festival runs Thursday, September 25 through Sunday, September 28, and it’s packed with music, history, and that big, welcoming family feel — especially with hosts Kirk and Kirsten West greeting folks at Gallery West on Third Street. The Big House Museum wouldn’t even exist without their vision and hard work! You can read more about Kirk and Kirsten in their Porchlight Press profiles and see why meeting them in person is worth the trip.
Kyler and his team know how to throw a topnotch festival — only the best players make the lineup. Here’s what’s on tap:
Thursday, Sept. 25 — Welcome to Macon
All Events FREE and Open to the Public
Gallery West Opening Reception (4–7 PM) — Celebrate with art, friends, and the first of many toasts while listening to bluesman Sonny Moorman.
Fresh Produce Meet & Greet — Rub elbows with musicians and Macon makers.
Capricorn Kickoff (7–10 PM) — Will Gore and Greg Kearney light the fuse on four days of music.
Friday, Sept. 26 — Laid Back and Wide Open
Gallery West Opening Reception (4–6:45 PM) — Free and open to the public. Willie Perkins and Kirk West will sign books while Sonny Moorman entertains.
Fresh Produce Meet & Greet (TBA) — Free and open to the public.
The Grand Opera House (7 PM, ticketed) — The Restless Natives & Friends perform ABB tunes, and solo material by Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts.
Grant’s Lounge Late Show — Anthony Rosano & The Conqueroos turn the night electric. (VIPs free, individual tickets available later.)
Saturday, Sept. 27 — The Heart of GABBAFest
GABBA Members Jam at the Big House (12–4 PM, free) — Musicians plug in, join forces, and turn the Big House lawn into a living, breathing jam session.
The Grand Opera House (7 PM, ticketed) — The Randall Bramblett Band with the Megablaster Horns headline, with Macon Music Revue opening.
Grant’s Lounge Late Show — Bonnie Blue & Friends keep the night rolling. (VIPs free, individual tickets available later.)
Sunday, Sept. 28 — Closing the Circle
Rose Hill Tree & Marker Dedication (arrive by 11:30 AM) — A moving tradition honoring ABB fans and family members, including those we’ve lost this year.
The GABBA Hangover at the Big House (12–4 PM, free) — Jesse Williams Band and Garrett Collins Project wrap the weekend with one last round of music and hugs before everyone heads home.
Pro Tip
The Big House jam is your ABB family reunion — so come ready to hang out for a while.
🪑 Bring your lawn chair or blanket and settle in.
🌮 Food trucks will be on-site from La Bella Morelia and Amici serving tacos, wings, and more, and they’ve got the non-alcoholic drinks covered.
🧊 Coolers are welcome — pack snacks, your favorite beverages, and yes, your own booze if that’s your thing.
🎶 Then sit back and soak up the music — it’s one of Macon’s best and most laid-back afternoons all year.
The Big House Jam in Full Swing
This is what Saturday and Sunday afternoons looks like at GABBAFest: lawn chairs under the oaks, friends sharing snacks from coolers, food truck tacos in hand, and music rolling off the pavilion stage. By the second song, someone’s always dancing — and by the last song, you’ll be singing along whether you planned to or not.
Ready to join the family?
GABBAFest is calling — and tickets are live now. Grab your weekend package for The Grand shows and make your plans to stay up late at Grant’s Lounge. Get your tickets here.
More Than Music: Guardianship & Giving Back
GABBA was born from fans gathering to share memorabilia and tending the graves of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley at Rose Hill Cemetery, where they’ve built stairs, planted trees, carved angels when vandals stole statues, and made sure these sites are places of reverence, not ruin. As one early GABBA column in Hittin’ the Note magazine put it, “Love is everywhere but it definitely starts right here in Macon, Georgia … where it all began.”
That spirit — a kind of quiet guardianship — is still at the heart of GABBA decades later. Over the years, GABBA’s generosity has touched hearts and changed lives and the festival still carries that core of serving.
GABBA has supported Macon’s Methodist Home for Children & Youth, the Macon Youth Symphony, and Daybreak Day Resource Center, which offers meals, showers, health care, and case management to Macon’s unhoused neighbors.
They also support the annual Skydog Music Festival, a free Macon concert that raises donations for Daybreak while celebrating Duane Allman’s music.
And every year, GABBAFest includes the powerful Rose Hill Tree Dedication, honoring in the past figures like Joe Dan Petty, Butch Trucks, Red Dog, Lamar Williams, Tim & Gregg Brooks, and their first-ever dedication for Heather McDonald, an 8-year-old Dickey Betts super fan who passed away, and whose mother still attends when she can.
Keeping History on the Map
These historic markers are just two examples of GABBA’s work to preserve Allman Brothers history in Macon and beyond. The “At Fillmore East” marker honors the alley where the iconic album cover photos were shot, and the Byron marker commemorates the 1970 Second Atlanta International Pop Festival — the ABB’s breakout moment. Thanks to GABBA, fans can stand on the very spots where rock history was made.
Why You Should Go (Even If You’ve Never Been)
Every September, fans travel from across the country, and across oceans, to gather in Macon and feel like they’re part of something larger than themselves. And to give back. They come with guitars, tambourines, and open hearts, ready to share stories and make new friends in the places where the ABB communed. For most it’s as much about community as it is about music — a chance to stand in the same places their heroes stood and to keep the circle unbroken.
First-time visitors are often struck by the warmth: strangers become bandmates in a single song, someone always pulls you into a conversation about your favorite ABB show, and by Sunday, the whole thing feels like family. That’s why people keep coming back — to be part of a family, one that keeps Macon’s musical soul alive.
And if you get the chance to meet Kyler? Do it. He’ll point you toward the best jam, tell you which after-show is going to catch fire, and maybe even send you home with a music recommendation or three. Meeting Kyler Mosely is reason enough to be at GABBAFest!
Past Performers
Join the Circle
If you’ve ever felt that tug in your chest when a slide guitar cries, GABBAFest is your call to answer. Come stand where the music was born — on the red clay, under the same wide Georgia sky — and be part of the fellowship that has kept this flame burning for more than three decades.
I’m gonna’ be there and can’t wait to meet you, so bring your stories, bring your song, bring your heart. There’s a place for us on the Big House lawn, at Grant’s, in Rose Hill — a place where strangers become kin and the music never really stops.
Because in Macon, the circle is still unbroken. And it’s waiting for you.
Don’t just read about it — be there!
The jam sessions, the tree dedication, the late-night magic at Grant’s… it only happens once a year. Reserve your spot now and be part of the circle. Snag your tickets before they’re gone. And see you there, my Brothers and Sisters!
About the Author
Cindi Brown is a Georgia-born writer, porch-sitter, and teller of truths — even the ones her mama once pinched her for saying out loud. She runs Porchlight Press from her 1895 house with creaking floorboards and an open door for stories with soul. When she’s not scribbling about Southern music, small towns, stray cats, places she loves, and the wild gospel that hums in red clay soil, you’ll find her out listening for the next thing worth saying.
