|
Blue Ridge Folklife Festival
OCTOBER 24, 2009
A Major Venue on the Crooked Road Music Trail
“Thoroughly authentic.”
—The New York Times
The ballads and banjo tunes of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Virginia Piedmont will be ringing across the Ferrum College campus at the 36th Blue Ridge Folklife Festival, Saturday, October 24, 2009. The festival brings together musicians and moonshiners, craftspeople and cooks, hot rodders and horse handlers—in short, a host of folk artists and artisans in a celebration of the heritage of the Blue Ridge. A Major Venue on the Crooked Road Music Trail, the Blue Ridge Folklife Festival is a family event like none other.
(The festival takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., rain or shine. Admission for 2008 was $10 for adults and $5 for children and senior citizens. We anticipate the same ticket prices for 2009. Parking is free.)
Music
From gospel to blues, with a world of string band and old-style bluegrass picking in between, the Blue Ridge Folklife Festival highlights the authentic regional musicians who have played Southwest Virginia’s music nearly all of their lives. The festival features three music stages running continuously throughout the day. Workshops and themed performances highlight special facets of Blue Ridge music. Bring your flatfooting shoes. (Click the link to the right for music details.)
Old-Time Crafts
The Blue Ridge Folklife Festival offers an unmatched market of mountain folk crafts. Nearly 50 artisans will be demonstrating old-time hand skills from tatting and basket making to blacksmithing and dough tray carving. The festival is known for presenting the hard-to-find artisans who make and sell crafts not found on the regular craft show circuit.
Antique Iron
The sights and sounds of vintage power equipment bring smiles to the engine-loving festival-goers. Demonstrations include rock crushing, wheat threshing, and grain milling. Hit-and-miss engines and restored tractors abound. In the car show hot rodders, muscle car owners, and stock car racers fire up their big block motors, and the chrome shines on a host of restored classics. Past Blue Ridge Folklife Festivals have attracted 200+ restored antique cars.
Working Animal Competitions
Farm animals have literally pulled their weight in Blue Ridge history. In the festival animal ring draft horses compete in pulling contests, jumping mules test their leaping skills, and herding dogs match wits with wandering sheep. Racoon hunters bring their coon dogs to race across the campus pond and compete in treeing competitions.
Blue Ridge Foods
When hunger strikes, visitors to the Blue Ridge Folklife Festival can choose from nearly two dozen old-time Blue Ridge foods prepared by local families and civic groups. This is the place for country foods such as ham biscuits, black pot chicken, funnel cakes, and fried apple pies—no hamburgers and hot dogs here.
Children’s Games
Children can spend hours playing many of the games that entertained their parents, grandparents, and earlier generations—tug-of-war, sack races, wheel-barrow races, three-legged races, ring toss, needle-in-a-haystack, and many more. The Blue Ridge Folklife Festival gives youngsters a taste of what outside play is all about.
For more information: 540-365-4416 or bri@ferrum.edu
 |
