Merge Records Announces 30th Anniversary Festival and New Subscription Series To Celebrate

Turning thirty – It marks the end of youth, the beginning of a new decade and an official transition into adulthood. Saying goodbye to your 20’s is a difficult milestone for most. Some celebrate with extravagant trips to exotic places, others don’t celebrate at all.

The latter is not the case for indie label Merge Records, who will be turning 30 years old in 2019. Put on your party hat and get ready to ring in dirty thirty! To celebrate the big 3-0, Merge Records will be hosting their own birthday bash by putting on the MRG Music Festival in North Carolina from July 24^th through the 27^th.

What birthday party is complete without party favors? To celebrate with fans, the label has announced a vinyl subscription series, cleverly titled “Born Under a Good Sign”.  Subscriptions, which will include four new albums of previously unreleased material from Merge artists on limited edition colored vinyl, subscriber only 7″ records, merchandise, and more are available for purchase now.  According to Pitchfork, portion of the proceeds will go to a charitable cause.  Merge Records will be donating to RAICES, a nonprofit organization providing legal services to immigrant children, families, and refugees in Texas.

Earlier this year Merge Records signed Fucked Up, Mike Krol, Swearin and more.

UPDATE (2/6): Merge Records has announced the lineup of its MRG30 Festival. Headlining the excellent lineup, which showcases just how talented the current Merge roster is, are Superchunk and Fucked Up. Also playing the festival are Wye Oak, The Mountain Goats, Titus Andronicus, Ibibio Sound System, Hiss Golden Messenger, Destroyer, Swearin’, Waxahatchee, Sneaks and “many more.” The festival will take place July 27-29, 2019 in Carborro and Durham, NC.

Tickets for MRG30 go on sale this Friday at 8 AM PST here (with two-ticket limit per customer.) Each ticket will be $215 and grant access to all four days of the festival. There’s also a kick-off show on March 18 featuring Eric Bachmann of Archers of Loaf, Teenage Fanclub and The Love Language. Tickets for that show are already on sale and available here.

UPDATE (5/13): Merge at 30 has announced its full lineup with A Giant Dog, Imperial Teen, Ex Hex, Mike Krol, Spider Bags, Telekinesis, and William Tyler. See the full lineup in the flyer below: