FESTIVALS IN THE GREAT SMOKIES

A Family Vacation Guide To The Appalachian Mountains

The first National Storytelling Festival started in 1973 at the Washington County Courthouse Square in Jonesborough, Tenn. Since that time, usually in October, a faithful crowd of about 10,000 people from all over the globe make Jonesborough’s National Storytelling Festival one of the most successful weekend events in the Appalachian Mountains. It has spawned the revival of storytelling across the country. There was not another event dedicated to the art of storytelling.

Appalachian Mountains Festival Attendance

Appalachian Mountains Festival Attendance

It has also since spawned similar events like the Cave Run Storytelling Festival, held in September at Morehead, Ky.

All over the Appalachians, festivals sprout like wildflowers, especially during summer with happenings like the West Virginia State Folk Festival. Usually held June 15-18, the West Virginia State Folk Festival dates to 1950 at Glenville, a small college town on the Little Kanawha River. Most activities take place on Main Street and include workshops in old-time fiddle, banjo and mountain lap dulcimer. You can toss horseshoes. You can also attend a nightly square dance on the street.

Later in the year the West Virginia Black Walnut Festival is held Oct. 12-15 at Spencer.

One of the South’s biggest events is The Kentuck Festival, held Oct. 21-22, with more than 250 artists at Northport, Ala.

And one of the biggest events in the North Carolina High Country is the Mt. Mitchell Crafts Fair, held Aug. 4-5 at the Town Square of Burnsville, N.C., near the shadow of Mt. Mitchell - the highest mountain in the Eastern United States.

Appalachian Mountains Spinning Craft

At the edge of Virginia’s coal fields, St. Paul throws its annual bash called Clinch River Days on the first weekend of June. St. Paul festival’s wine-tasting, fishing tournament, magic show and country music concerts.
St. Paul’s event attracts about 2,000 people each year. Clinch River Days boasts what every other great summer festival serves in the Appalachians - food, music and crafts.

The Best Friend Festival at nearby Norton is also held in June. The mainstay of the Steppin’ Out Festival in Blacksburg, Va., is held in early August.

The Mountain Heritage Day Festival at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C., is held in September.

The emphasis shifts slightly - if you go from a festival to a county fair.

Fairs feature more agricultural contests plus four-wheeler racing, rodeos and demolition derbies. Also, carnival rides light up the nighttime sky at the Rich Valley Fair near Saltville, Va., the Virginia-Kentucky District Fair at Wise, Va., or the Appalachian Fair at Gray, Tenn.

FunFest in Kingsport, Tenn., runs July 14-22, with children’s activities, food and games. Events envelop nearly every corner of the industrial city near the Tennessee-Virginia line.

One of the biggest - and newest - festivals in the mountains celebrates eclectic musical tastes at Floyd, Va.

Dubbed FloydFest, this three-day World Music Festival is held annually with bluegrass, reggae, folk, African and Appalachian music running July 28-30. Performances by Iris Dement, Eddie From Ohio, Los Lobos, Appalachian Roots, The Lee Boys, Sun Dried Opossum, Blue Mule and the Celtic Air Band (shown here) that has been featured on national T.V.'s Today Show.

Appalachian Festival Celtic Air Band

Also in July, the Tazewell County Old Time & Bluegrass Fiddlers Convention runs July 14-16, with Friday night performances, Saturday instrument and band competitions plus a Sunday morning gospel sings.

In August, check out Galax’s Old Fiddlers Convention, held since 1935. Now, the contest featuring banjo players, guitarists and other musicians attracts thousands. There’s also just as much a concert happening off stage - in parking lots or campgrounds - as there is on stage at Felts Park.

If there is a trend to festivals, it might be the explosion of new mountain music events. Part of that success could be owed to the promotion and popularity of various mountain music trails, such as Virginia’s The Crooked Road, stretching from the Blue Ridge Institute at Ferrum College to the west at Breaks Interstate Park on the Kentucky border.

Near the center of The Crooked Road lies Bristol, TN, the home of the Rhythm & Roots Reunion. This festival - on the third weekend of each September - regularly attracts thousands to the downtown corridor of Bristol’s State Street with a mix of bluegrass, acoustic, country and Appalachian tunes. Performers have included Dave Loggins, a Mountain City, Tenn., native who grew up in Bristol, had a Top-10 hit with “Please Come to Boston,” and later wrote songs for Alabama and Wynonna Judd. The festival has been a surprising success for the city situated on the Tennessee-Virginia line.

Once, in the 1990s, Bristol hardly had luck gathering a festival crowd - unless it had something to do with its massive NASCAR track on the southside of town. Bristol’s Autumn Chase Festival simply withered away, for lack of interest, and bad weather plagued Bristol’s short-lived Racefest until, finally, the city just stopped having festivals.

Now, Rhythm & Roots Reunion goes to Bristol’s roots. It capitalizes on the city’s tradition as a bluegrass mecca and its fame as the “Birthplace of Country Music” - a claim made for being the place where both Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family were discovered in 1927.

Burke’s Garden Fall Festival, held near Tazewell, Va., in September, is a must see.

Burke's Garden Historical Marker

Other large festivals are beautiful and exciting too, like the Virginia Highlands Festival, stretching for two weeks in early August at Abingdon, Va.

Originating in 1949, the Virginia Highlands Festival was founded by Robert Porterfield, who also started the town’s Barter Theatre. In its early years, the festival was simply a great way to promote the theatre’s summer season. Now, the Virginia Highlands Festival includes Barter Theatre performances plus a Celtic music weekend, art shows, and an antiques market.

In recent years, an increased number of outdoor activities have also been scheduled for the festival, including hikes to Mount Rogers, the Pinnacle Natural Area Preserve, the Great Channels near Hayter’s Gap, and the Virginia Creeper Trail.

At Whitetop, Va., the Maple Festival in March, the Ramp Festival in May
and the Molasses Festival in October. All three are fundraisers for the Mount Rogers Volunteer Fire Department.

One of the most memorable experienes is to attend a Majestic Applalachian Festival. Don't miss your experience!