Editing Doc Watson (section)

===Later life===
[[File:Merlewatson.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Merle Watson, c. 1979]]

In his later life, Watson scaled back his touring schedule. He was generally joined onstage by his grandson (Merle's son) Richard, as well as longtime musical partners [[David Holt (musician)|David Holt]] or [[Jack Lawrence (bluegrass)|Jack Lawrence]]. On June 19, 2007, Watson was accompanied by Australian guitar player [[Tommy Emmanuel]] at a concert at the [[Bass Performance Hall]] in [[Fort Worth, Texas]]. Watson also performed, accompanied by Holt and Richard, at the [[Hardly Strictly Bluegrass]] festival in [[San Francisco]] in 2009, as he had done for several previous festivals.

Watson hosted the annual [[MerleFest]] music festival held every April at [[Wilkes Community College]] in [[Wilkesboro, North Carolina]]. The festival features a vast array of acoustic style music focusing on the folk, bluegrass, [[blues]] and old-time music genres. It was named in honor of Merle Watson and is one of the most popular acoustic music festivals in the world, drawing over 70,000 music fans each year.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/obit/story/2012-05-29/doc-watson-dies/55271498/1 | title=Doc Watson, folk music legend, dies at 89 | work=[[USA Today]] | date=May 30, 2012 | access-date=May 30, 2012 | last=Mansfield | first=Brian | archive-date=May 30, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530103832/http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/obit/story/2012-05-29/doc-watson-dies/55271498/1 | url-status=dead }}</ref> The festival has continued after his death.

Watson was inducted into the [[North Carolina Music Hall of Fame]] in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title=2010 Inductees|url=http://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/category/inductees/2010-inductees/|publisher=North Carolina Music Hall of Fame|access-date=September 10, 2012}}</ref>