Motown Music Meets Yadkin Valley Wine: Summer Concert at Blackmon Amphitheatre

As announced on Eventbrite, The Legacy Motown Revue will perform live at the Blackmon Amphitheatre on Thursday, July 2, 2026, as part of the Surry Arts Council's Summer Concert Series. An outdoor amphitheatre, a warm July evening, classic soul music. That's already a good night. Add a winery stop beforehand and it becomes a great one.

If you haven't been out to this part of Yadkin Valley lately, this is a solid reason to make the drive.

The Winery Worth Stopping at First

Surry Cellars is right there in Dobson, and it's one of the more interesting stops in the region. It's part of the NC Viticulture Center, which means the wines you're tasting were made by students learning the craft. That might not sound like a selling point until you're standing in the middle of it and realize how seriously they take the work.

The portfolio is broader than you'd expect. Dry reds, whites, fruit wines, Muscadine, Seyval Blanc. They've got the regional bases covered. It's a good place to bring someone who's new to NC wine because the educational angle gives you something to talk about beyond what's in the glass.

I'd skip any specific award claims I can't verify firsthand, but I'll say this: student-run doesn't mean low quality. Not here.

Timing Your Day

Surry Cellars typically closes at 5pm on weekdays and is closed Mondays. With a Thursday evening concert, that sets you up cleanly. Get there early afternoon, take your time, grab a bottle if you want to carry something to the show. The campus grounds are picnic-friendly, and the rolling Piedmont countryside around Dobson is exactly what you picture when someone says "wine country."

Plan an hour and a half, maybe two hours if you want to walk the vineyard and actually talk to someone on staff. It's worth slowing down for.

What Makes This Night Work

I think about these combinations a lot. A great wine trip isn't just about the tasting room. It's about the whole day having a shape to it. You want somewhere to go before the wine, and somewhere to be after.

The Surry Arts Council has been running this Summer Concert Series for a while, and it draws real community turnout. The Blackmon Amphitheatre is an intimate setting. Motown catalog music in that kind of space, on a July night, with the valley air around you. That's the kind of evening people talk about on the drive home.

This is also the kind of event that shows why Yadkin Valley wine country is more than just tasting rooms. The region has a life to it. Music, community, working farms, students learning something real. That all matters to me.

Extend the Trip If You Can

Dobson puts you in reach of a lot of what makes the Yadkin Valley worth exploring. If you want to turn this into a full weekend, the summer timing is ideal. The vines are fully leafed out in July, the afternoons are long, and the harvest buzz starts to build in the background.

There are other wineries within a short drive if you want to build out a route. I'll leave the specifics to the planner since the best combination depends on what you're looking for.

Explore More of Yadkin Valley Wine Country

A Thursday night show is a natural anchor for a long July weekend, and the lodging guide is where I'd start for spots near Dobson. The reservation guide covers which afternoon tasting rooms to call ahead for, and the Charlotte day-trip guide lays out a route if you're driving up from the south.

Use the ValleySomm trip planner to build a full day or weekend around the event.

Plan Your Yadkin Valley Wine and Music Night

If you want to map out the afternoon before the concert or add a few more stops around Dobson, plan your trip at ValleySomm. Tell it what you're after and it'll build you a route that makes sense. No wasted time, no missed turns.