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Saturday’s Dillsboro festival to feature arts, crafts, food, live performances
By Derek Hodges
Visitors to Dillsboro’s revamped Heritage Day Arts and Music Festival this Saturday, June 11, will be able to enjoy performances by 18 local musicians and purchase the handiwork of about 50 artisans.
Once again this year a stage will be set up on Church Street to spotlight song, dance and storytelling traditions of the mountains.
Paintings and painted objects, including these gourds, will be part of artist Karen Pittman’s display at Dillsboro’s 21st annual Heritage Day Arts and Music Festival this Saturday. Pittman will be one of about 50 artisans who will sell their wares during the event, which will last from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Craft displays will be set up on Front Street, while a stage and seven food vendors will be on Church Street.
Unlike past years, though, this year’s festival will include chairs for those who want to linger to enjoy the music.
Festival coordinator Joe Frank McKee said he hopes there will also be tables available for those attending the festival who want to enjoy a bite to eat as they watch and listen.
The stage will be positioned on the north end of Church Street with seating running south from there and food vendors filling the rest of the road. Arts and crafts vendors will station themselves on Front Street.
“I’ve been dumbfounded by what’s come forward in these last two weeks,” McKee said. “We’ve had an incredible response from the people of Dillsboro.”
Saturday’s booths will include displays of acrylic, oil, watercolor and pastel paintings, charcoal works, handmade and rock candles, homemade soap, jewelry, ceramics, woodworking, and more, most of which will be available for purchase.
“There’s going to be some great stuff for people to buy here,” McKee said.
Dillsboro Mayor Jean Hartbarger said she has high hopes for the event that usually draws a large crowd to downtown.
“There’s some exciting changes this year. It’s always been a really popular event, but we hope this will bring more people.”
Both Hartbarger and McKee said they are pleased with the festival’s new direction. For the past 20 years the event, which is sponsored by the Dillsboro Merchant’s Association, has simply been called the Dillsboro Heritage Festival. This year it is refocused on arts and music, and its name has been slightly modified to reflect that.
“Everyone in this region is having heritage-related events now,” Hartbarger said. “This is an opportunity for Dillsboro to do something different.”
Karen Barnes, who is charge of entertainment for the event, said the acts came from a list of local performers.
“We’ve got a lot of talent right here, and we’ve got so much variety just in this area,” Barnes said. “We’re going for some good variety and to showcase some local talent at the festival.”
Barnes has scheduled 12 acts that will bring a variety of Appalachian performances to the stage.
“We want to give a good stage for our area performers and some good entertainment for folks who are willing to come out and party with us,” Barnes said.
The entertainment schedule includes:
10 a.m. – Fiddling Dills Sisters, traditional Appalachian music.
11 a.m. – Eddie Swimmer, Native American dancer.
11:30 a.m. – Regina Swimmer, country musician.
Noon – Josh Bulla, Scottish piper and harpist.
12:30 p.m. – Gary Carter, flat picker.
1 p.m. – Gary Carden, storyteller.
1:30 p.m. – Smoky Mountain Strings (Steve and Mary Ann Lengyel), mountain instruments.
2 p.m. – Henry Wong, folk minstrel.
2:30 p.m. – Karen “Sugar” Barnes, old-time blues.
3 p.m. – Wooden Wind, guitar and harmonica duo.
3:30 p.m. – Marshall Ballew, Americana and various musical styles.
4 p.m. – Frogtown Four, bluegrass.
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