Heritage Festival

18th Annual Townsend Heritage Festival and Old Timers Day is September 24-25, 2010.

Highlights: bluegrass music and clogging, mountain music jam sessions, storytelling, family activities, crafts by local artisans, great food, and demonstrations of a variety of traditional skills including basketry, quilting, weaving, sorghum molasses, apple butter making, apple cider, beekeeping, and blacksmithing. Scroll down for more details and schedule of events.

Festival events are free and take place on the grounds of the Townsend Visitors Center, located at 7906 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway, Townsend, TN 37882. Call 800-525-6834for details and updates. The Heritage Festival is one of four events during "Townsend Days" Fall Celebration:

• Blue Ribbon Country Fair, Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, Sept. 24 and 25
  
• Nawger Nob Arts and Crafts Show, Sept. 25 and 26
• Railroad Days, Little River Railroad Museum, Sept. 25
• Fall Heritage Festival and Old Timers Day, Sept. 24 and 25

Click here for the Townsend Days brochure: Townsend Days

Spend some time with us!  Click here for links to accomodations, including motels, cabins, B and B's, and camping.

A special note:  In partnership with Keep Blount Beautiful and Spectra Recycling, Inc., we will be recycling plastic and aluminum at the Fall Festival. Please use the containers provided. Your recycling efforts benefit Hearts and Hands Scholarship Fund.

Stay tuned as we update the Fall Festival schedule, below. See our Calendar of Events for dates and other details about all of our activities.

Townsend Fall Heritage Festival and Old Timers Day
September 24 and 25, 2010
Schedule of Events

Activities for Friday, September 24, 2010
(Please call 865-448-6134 for updates and refer to posted maps.)

All day: Bluegrass music and clogging at the stage and jam sessions on the porch and under the trees.

          

Appalachian skills around the grounds:
- Mountain Berry Basket Making and Poetry, Bill Alexander
- Blacksmithing, David and Melanie Thompson
- Sorghum Molasses Making, Mark and Sherry Guenther
- Apple Butter Making, Marie DeVault and friends
- Apple Cider Making, Liles Acres Organic Farm
- Apple Head Dolls, Sallie Swor
- Cornmeal Making, Ronald and Angel Fowler
- "Meet the Llamas" and Handspinning, Liles Acres Organic Farm
- Beekeeping and Observation Hive, Tony Holt
- Herb Gardening, Honey Rock Herb Farm
- Chair Caning, Web Sherman
- Moonshine Still, Bill Leistner
- Cades Cove Preservation Association Exhibits
- Black Bear Booth, Appalachian Bear Rescue
- Native American Displays and Activities

9am-5pm: Arts and crafts in the Exhibit Room
- Rug Hooking, Carol McBride
- Weaving, Effie Suttles
- Charcoal Pencil Artwork, Andy England
- Quilting, Ila Mae Morton and Maetta Conrad
- Basketry, Bonny Kate Sugg
- Woodcarving, Lendel Abbott

10am-6pm: Arts and Crafts Booths in the back field

10am-8pm: Food Booths open in the back field

10am-3pm: Meet the Llamas from Liles Acres Organic Farm, and see their wool spun into yarn. On the grounds.

Friday afternoon: Featured author, Margie Hunter, Gardening with Native Plants of Tennessee, in the Visitors Center from 1:00-4:00pm

Friday Featured author, Roy Oliver, Last Man from Tremont, in the Visitors Center, 9:00am-5:00pm

1pm, 3pm, 5pm: Cake Raffles with proceeds to the Hearts and Hands Scholarship Fund, at the stage. Bake sale all day.

Activities for Saturday, September 25, 2010
(Please call 865-448-6134 for updates and refer to posted maps.)

All day: Bluegrass music and clogging at the stage and jam sessions on the porch and under the trees.

Special Guest Dancer: Thomas Maupin, National Champion Buckdancer from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Performances at several times on stage and around the grounds.

Thomas Maupin

Evening Square Dance: 8:00pm with caller Don Tipton

Appalachian skills around the grounds:
- Mountain Berry Basket Making and Poetry, Bill Alexander
- Blacksmithing, David and Melanie Thompson
- Sorghum Molasses Making, Mark and Sherry Guenther
- Apple Butter Making, Marie DeVault and friends
- Apple Cider Making, Liles Acres Organic Farm
- Apple Head Dolls, Sallie Swor
- Cornmeal Making, Ronald and Angel Fowler
- "Meet the Llamas" and Handspinning, Liles Acres Organic Farm
- Beekeeping and Observation Hive, Tony Holt
- Chair Caning, Web Sherman
- Moonshine Still, Bill Leistner
- Cades Cove Preservation Association Exhibits
- Black Bear Booth, Appalachian Bear Rescue
- Native American Displays and Activities

9am-5pm: Arts and crafts in the Exhibit Room
- Rug Hooking, Carol McBride
- Weaving, Effie Suttles
- Charcoal Pencil Artwork, Andy England
- Quilting, Ila Mae Morton and Maetta Conrad
- Basketry, Bonny Kate Sugg
- Woodcarving, Lendel Abbott

10am-6pm: Arts and Crafts booths in the back field

10am-8pm: Food Booths open in the back field

10am-3pm: Meet the Llamas from Liles Acres Organic Farm, and see their wool spun into yarn. On the grounds

1:00pm-4:00pm: Smoky Mountain Tales
A program of mountain stories for all ages in the Storytelling Tent:
featuring Kate Agmann of the Jonesborough Storytellers Guild, Bill ("Berry Basket Bill") Alexander, Lendel Abbott, and Mistress of Ceremony Robin Goddard.STORYTELLING PROGRAM

In the Storytelling Tent in front of Townsend Visitors Center:

1:00-1:15 - Welcome! Robin Goddard

1:15-1:45 - Lendel Abbott

1:45-2:30 - Kate Agmann

2:30-3:00 - Bill Alexander

3:00-3:45 - Kate Agmann

3:45-4:00 - Thank You! Robin Goddard

1pm, 3pm, 5pm: Cake Raffles with proceeds to the Hearts and Hands Scholarship Fund, at the stage. Bake sale all day beside the Stage.

9:00am-5:00pm: Featured Author, Dr. Lin Stepp, Tell Me about Orchard Hollow and The Foster Girls in the Visitors Center.

9:00am-5:00pm: Featured author, Roy Oliver, Last Man from Tremont, in the Visitors Center

The Heritage Festival is sponsored by the Blount County Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Smoky Mountain Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Festival Parking benefits the Townsend Volunteer Fire Department. Thanks to our great Festival Volunteers who staff the Chamber Coke Booths and help with the crafts, demonstrations, and overall operation.

Please Note: Schedule is subject to change. For updates and more information, contact the Townsend Visitor Center, 7906 E. Lamar Alexander Pkwy., Townsend, TN 37882, 865-448-6134, 800-525-6834, and see http://www.smokymountains.org/ and http://www.smokymountainfestivals.org

Our Fall Heritage Festival and Old Timers Day celebrates mountain culture, including bluegrass music, Appalachian arts and crafts demonstrations, and the natural beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains. Visit the Smoky Mountain Festivals website!

For more information, please call the Smoky Mountain Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-525-6834 or 865-448-6134.   

Thanks to our Sponsors of the Fall Heritage Festival: