Free Vacation Guide

Don't miss it:  May 4 and 5, 2012, Townsend Spring Festival and Old Timers Day.

Join us for our springtime celebration of bluegrass music (concerts and jam sessions), clogging, arts and crafts, BBQ, Appalachian skills demonstrations, storytelling, wildflower walks, and the beauty of the Smokies in the springtime.

Young Pickers Talent Contest:  Saturday afternoon, May 5, 2012 at Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center

2012 Young Pickers Contest Winners
First place, Open: Sarah Morgan
Grand Prize: Sarah Morgan

First Place Guitar: Matthew Taylor
Second Place Guitar: Ryan Rodabaugh
Third Place Guitar: Patrick Martin

First Place Mandolin: Matthew Taylor
Second Place Mandolin: Meaghan Allen
Third Place Mandolin: Samuel Teno

First Place Fiddle: Krislee Twiner
Second Place Fiddle: Maelee Taylor
Third Place Fiddle: Gabriel Marlow

First Place Banjo: Andy Teno
Second Place Banjo: William Teno
Third Place Banjo: James Richardson III

Young Bluegrass Band Concert: 7:30pm, Friday, May 4, 2012 at Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center: Featuring, From East Tennessee State University, "Sons of Bluegrass"

Funded by a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commisssion.

ABC logo

Townsend in the Smokies Spring Festival Schedule

May 4-5, 2012

For more information, please call 865-448-6134
Admission: Free
Parking: $8 per day (Proceeds benefit the Townsend Volunteer Fire Department)

Events take place at the Townsend Visitors Center, Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, Trillium Cove Shopping Village and other locations around Townsend. Please, NO PETS.
Friday, May 4
9-11 a.m. Wildflower walk with naturalist Tom Harrington on Chestnut Top Trail; limit 15 (call 865-448-6134 to reserve a spot). Meet at the trailhead at the “Y”
9 a.m.-5 p.m. Featured author and book-signing with Roy Oliver, Last Man from Tremont.   Townsend Visitors Center.
10 a.m. Hedgewood Gardens tour. Meet at Hedgewood Gardens on Bethel Church Rd. $7 donation benefits Hearts and Hands Scholarship Fund.
1:30-3:30 p.m. Wildflower walk with naturalist Tom Harrington on Chestnut Top Trail; limit 15 (call 865-448-6134 to reserve a spot) Meet at the trailhead at the “Y”
2 p.m. Hedgewood Gardens tour. Meet at Hedgewood Gardens on Bethel Church Rd. $7 donation benefits Hearts and Hands Scholarship Fund.
6:30 p.m. Knoxville Pipes and Drums concert and parade (sponsored by Highland Manor Inn & Cades Cove Best Western): Highland music in celebration of Scottish heritage. In front of the Visitors Center.
7:30 p.m. Free concert. “Sons of Bluegrass” a young band of students in the mountain music program at ETSU at Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center. Funded by an Arts Build Communities Grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission.
Plus, all of these favorite Festival events:
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Arts and Crafts booths in the back field
11 a.m. Clogging lessons and demonstration
noon-10 p.m. Bluegrass music on the stage and pickin’ on the porch and around the grounds. Clogging in front of the stage.
BBQ vendors, ice cream, specialty sandwiches, hot dog booths, kettle corn, and other good food
Cake raffles and bake sale for Hearts and Hands Scholarship Fund at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., at the stage.
Artisan demonstrations in Exhibit Room 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Basketry: Karen Kenst, Bonny Kate Sugg
Woodcarving: Lendel Abbott
Quilting: Maetta Conrad, Ila Mae Morton, Marcella Emrick
Rug Hooking: Carol McBride
Weaving: Sue Mason
Charcoal/Pencil Art: Andy England
Old Fashioned and Portrait Photos: Mary Grace and Bud McCaffery
Appalachian Demonstrations around the grounds
Mtn. Berry Basket Making and Poetry: Bill Alexander
Bee Keeping and Bee Hive Observation: Tony Holt
Cornmeal Making: Ronald Fowler
Oak shingle-making: Sam White
Pottery: Carol Ware
Apple Head Dolls: Sallie Swor
Cades Cove Preservation Association exhibits
Appalachian Bear Center activity booth
Cherokee Finger-weaving: Charaity Hubbard
Antique Weapons: David Daley
Band Schedule
11:00 Clogging Lessons
11:30 Twin Creek
12:00 Broken String Ramblers
12:40 Deep River Bluegrass
1:20 Carolina Bluegrass
2:00 Notchey Creek
2:40 Jay Tipton Band
3:20 Lonesome Road Bluegrass
4:00 Hurley Ridge
4:40 Larry Hobbs
5:20 Pleasant Valley Boys
5:50 Mike Clemmer
6:00 South of the River Boys
6:30 Steve Jordan and L.B.
7:05 Walking in Tradition
7:40 Deep River Bluegrass
8:15 Carolina Bluegrass
8:50 Notchey Creek
9:20 Close Out Band

Saturday, May 5 “Old Timers Day”
9 a.m.-5 p.m. Black Bear Expo at Trillium Cove Shopping Village
10 a.m. Hedgewood Gardens tour. Meet at Hedgewood Gardens on Bethel Church Rd. $7 donation benefits Hearts and Hands Scholarship Fund.
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Old Fashioned Kid’s Games. In the field behind the Visitors Center.
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Civil War regiment encampment along the bicycle path.
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Book-Signing with Missy Tipton and Paulette Ledbetter. Cades Cove In front of the Visitors Center hearth.
1:30-2:30 p.m. Storytelling Program: Hand puppets and children’s stories with Robin Goddard. Mountain tales with Lendell Abbott. Storytelling tent
2 p.m. Hedgewood Gardens tour. Meet at Hedgewood Gardens on Bethel Church Rd. $7 donation benefits Hearts and Hands Scholarship Fund.
2 p.m.-5 p.m. Young Pickers Talent Contest. Bluegrass music contest for musicians 18 years and under. Held at Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center. Call 865-448-6134 for entry forms.
3:30-5 p.m. Sacred Harp Sing: Shape note music with the East Tennessee Old Harp Singers in the storytelling tent.
7 p.m. Square dance with caller Don Tipton and music by the Carolina Bluegrass Boys at the stage.
Plus, all of these favorite Festival events:
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Arts and Crafts booths in the back field
noon-10 p.m. Bluegrass music on the stage and pickin’ on the porch and around the grounds. Clogging in front of the stage.
BBQ vendors, ice cream, specialty sandwiches, hot dog booths, kettle corn, and other good food
Cake raffles and bake sale for Hearts and Hands Scholarship Fund at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., at the stage.
Artisan demonstrations in Exhibit Room 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Basketry: Karen Kenst, Bonny Kate Sugg
Woodcarving: Lendel Abbott
Quilting: Maetta Conrad, Ila Mae Morton, Marcella Emrick
Rug Hooking: Carol McBride
Weaving: Sue Mason
Charcoal/Pencil Art: Andy England
Old Fashioned and Portrait Photos: Mary Grace and Bud McCaffery
Appalachian Demonstrations around the grounds
Mtn. Berry Basket Making and Poetry: Bill Alexander
Bee Keeping and Bee Hive Observation: Tony Holt
Cornmeal Making: Ronald Fowler
Oak shingle-making: Sam White
Pottery: Carol Ware
Apple Head Dolls:
Sallie Swor
Cades Cove Preservation Association exhibits
Appalachian Bear Center activity booth
Cherokee Finger-weaving: Charaity Hubbard
Antique Weapons: David Daley
Bow-making: Bear Brooks
Band Schedule
11:00 Circle of Friends
11:30 Twin Creek
12:00 Blue Streaks
12:40 Deep River Bluegrass
1:20 Carolina Bluegrass
2:00 Jay Tipton Band
2:40 Steve Jordan & L.B.
3:20 Notchey Creek
4:00 Tennessee Brush Fire
4:40 Larry Hobbs
5:20 Pleasant Valley Boys
5:50 Mike Clemmer
6:00 Lonesome Road Bluegrass
6:30 South of the River Boys
7:00 Square Dance
7:30 Walking in Tradition
8:00 Carolina Bluegrass
8:30 Notchey Creek
9:00 Close Out Band
Thank you to our Sponsors: Premier: Coca-Cola, Townsend IGA, Laurel Valley Resort, WBIR. Silver: Comcast Spotlight, Wood-N-Strings Dulcimer Shop, Great Smoky Mountains Association. Silver In-Kind: Misty River Cabins & RV Resort, Pioneer Cabins and Guest Farm. Friends: Townsend Great Smokies KOA, Big Meadow Campground. Friends In-Kind: Townsend Shopping Center, Aloca, Inc. Young Pickers: Constance Ottway, Bob Curtis, The Palace Theater, Pick ‘N Grin, Townsend Great Smokies KOA, Murlin’s Music World, Rocky Branch Community Club, Music Row, Steve Kaufman Acoustic Kamps and Concerts, Richardson Memorial Arts Fund. Young Pickers In-Kind: WDVX Radio, Pokey’s Engraving Shop, Digital Express Mastering. Knoxville Pipes and Drums: Highland Manor Inn, Cades Cove Best Western. Storytelling: Top of Townsend Cabins.
Recycling at the Festival is provided by Keep Blount Beautiful and Spectra, USA.

Click here to see a gallery of photos from past festivals by Mary Grace McCaffery.

Click here to view our Smoky Mountain Festivals website! 

Explore Our Other Sites

Download our Townsend Guide
Learn more about the Festivals


Calendar of Events

See our Calendar of Events for dates and other details about all of our activities. View Calendar



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