Merlefest photo
2014 Merlefest
The Steep Canyon Rangers were one of the headline acts of 2014’s Merlefest, held annually in Wilkesboro, N.C.
As the weather warms, festival season gets underway. Whether one seeks music or crafts, heritage or craft brews, there’s a celebration for it somewhere across the region. Get to planning 2015 travels with this round up of festivals highlighting just a few of those that are not to be missed.
Dogwood Arts
More a series of events than a single festival, Dogwood Arts kicks off in February with the Home & Garden Show, occupies the entire month of April with events such as the Rhythm N’ Blues festival and Bikes & Blooms, incorporates a film festival in September, and closes out in December with a community-wide dogwood tree-planting program. dogwoodarts.com.
Greening Up the Mountains
An ecologically-focused festival, this Sylva, N.C., event features a 5K run, two music stages, a children’s stage, talent show, craft demonstrations, kids’ activities on April 25. greeningupthemountains.com.
Rossini Fest
Dedicated to celebrating the arts with the region’s best talent, the Rossini Fest in Knoxville, Tenn., does away with pre-conceived notions of “high-falutin’” symphonies and operas. Organizers ask, “Are you bored by murder, betrayal, lust, extravagance, the supernatural or madness?” This year’s festival is held April 25. knoxvilleopera.com.
Merlefest
Considered one of the premier music festivals in the country, Merlefest serves as an annual homecoming for musicians and music fans. Held in April 23-26 in Wilkesboro, N.C, MerleFest was founded in 1988 in memory of the late Eddy Merle Watson, son of American music legend Doc Watson. MerleFest is a celebration of ‘traditional plus’ music, a unique mix of music based on the traditional, roots-oriented sounds of the Appalachian region, including bluegrass and old-time music, and expanded to include Americana, country, blues, rock and many other styles. merlefest.org.
Brevard Music Festival
This summer festival includes more than 80 opera, chamber, and orchestra performances over seven weeks each summer. Brevard Music Center students, faculty, and guest artists perform a variety of concerts ranging from baroque and classical to modern and pops. Many events are free and held on the campus in Brevard, N.C. brevardmusic.org.
Lake Eden Arts Festival
Known as LEAF, this unusual festival includes an educational outreach program matching artists with youth in schools and communities for hands-on workshops, residencies, interactive performances and mentoring that includes opportunities for youth to perform at twice-yearly events. Look for slam poetry, live music, a zip line into the lake, culinary arts, storytelling, outdoor adventures for kids, heritage crafts… really more diversity than most any other festival around. May 7-10 brings LEAF’s 40th anniversary—which continues with the fall festival Oct. 15-18. theleaf.org.
Biscuit Fest
Biscuit lovers rejoice at this carb-loaded festival featuring biscuit cooking competitions, biscuit art, biscuit songwriting, a Mr. and Ms. Biscuit pageant, and the Southern Food Writing Conference in Knoxville, Tenn. This year’s festival will be held May 14-16. biscuitfest.com.
Singing on the Mountain
The oldest ongoing old-time gospel convention of its kind in the Southern Appalachians, this free day-long event is held at the foot of Grandfather Mountain in June. The day includes top Southern Gospel groups and Grand Ole Opry performers, plus a midday sermon. grandfather.com.
Grandfather Mountain Highland Games
Held July 9-12 at MacRae Meadows on Grandfather Mountain near Linville, N.C., the Highland Games are a celebration of all things Scottish. There’s dancing, piping, drumming, athletic competition, music and Gaelic culture including sheep herding, geneaology, and a Kirkin ‘O’ the Tartans. gmhg.org.
Blairsville Scottish Festival and Highland Games
Watch athletes compete in traditional games, including caber toss, putting the stone and tossing the sheaf while border collies herd sheep and falcons swoop down on prey, Gordon setters hunt game birds, and Clann Nan Con recreate the feel of early Scottish settlers in Georgia with their period clothing and weapons. This annual festival will be held June 13-14 in Blairsville, Ga. blairsvillescottishfestival.org.
Folkmoot USA
North Carolina’s official international dance festival, Folkmoot brings cultural groups from around the world to locations across the mountains. Dance performances, workshops and a festival and parade day make this an extraordinary event for the whole family. This year the festival, based in Waynesville, N.C., will be held from July 16-26. folkmootusa.org.
Mountain Dance and Folk Festival
Since 1928, mountain fiddlers, banjo pickers, dulcimer sweepers, dancers, balladeers and others have come to enjoy themselves “along about sundown” the first weekend in August. Founded as a means for people to share and understand the beauty and dignity of the Southern Appalachian music and dance traditions that have been handed down through generations in western North Carolina, the festival is held in Asheville. folkheritage.org.
Virginia Highlands Festival
Robert Porterfield held the first festival in 1948 on the front porch of Abingdon, Va.’s Martha Washington Inn in conjunction with the founding of the famed Barter Theatre, the State Theatre of Virginia, to preserve and celebrate the region’s cultural heritage. The festival, held in early August, has grown and now represents the whole of Southwestern Virginia. vahighlandsfestival.org.
Mountain Heritage Day
A combination old-fashioned mountain fair and showcase for Southern Appalachian music, arts, dance and song, with the atmosphere of a big family reunion, Mountain Heritage Day is held each September on the Western Carolina University campus in Cullowhee, N.C. Visitors to will find three stages of traditional old-time, gospel, and bluegrass music and dance, with plenty of clogging and fiddle and banjo music. This year’s festival will be held Sept. 27. mountainheritageday.com.
Boomsday
A huge Labor Day celebration in downtown Knoxville, Tenn., this family-friendly event features entertainment, fireworks and an after party each September. boomsday.org.
Georgia Mountain Fall Festival
Each October, this 9-day event in Hiawassee, Ga., features musical performances, arts and craft vendors, demonstrations, a flower show and the ever-popular Georgia’s Official State Fiddlers’ Convention. This year’s festival will be held Oct. 9-17. georgiamountainfairgrounds.com.
Wooly Worm Festival
Since 1978, residents of Banner Elk, N.C., nestled between the Carolina’s largest ski resorts, have celebrated the coming of the snow season and relied on which one worm will have the honor of predicting the severity of the coming winter—determined by winning heat after heat of hard-fought races up a three-foot length of string. This year’s festival will be held Oct. 17-18. woolyworm.com.
Winterfest
An annual four-month long celebration from November to February, Winterfest is filled with light displays, music and special events such as the Trolley Tour of Lights, Wilderness Wildlife Week and Saddle Up throughout Pigeon Forge, Sevierville and Gatlingburg, Tenn. mypigeonforge.com.