Fall Festival at Folk School provides weekend fun
By KATHI OSBORNE

Two hundred craft vendors will offer a variety of handmade items for sale at this year's Fall Festival.

John C. Campbell Folk School will host its thirtythird annual Fall Festival on Saturday and Sunday, October 7 and 8, from 10am-5pm on its campus in Brasstown, NC.

Fall Festival is one of the largest events of its type in the region and will feature 200 craft vendors, 30 craft demonstrators, 31 performing music and dance groups, multiple children's activities and over a dozen food booths. Folk School officials expect to entertain thousands of visitors this year.

Organizers say the homegrown festival is a celebration of the area's Appalachian roots. Director Jan Davidson said, "I like the way this festival pulls the whole community together. That is very much in the spirit of the Folk School's history. A lot of our people who live off come home at that time, so you'll see old friends you may not have seen since last year's festival."

Both juried and nonjuried craft vendors will sell handmade goods in a variety of media. Crafted items for sale will include pottery, ironwork, wood items, jewelry, and fiber goods, among others. Davidson said, "It's one of the best craft fairs anywhere, combining high quality with friendly encounters. The great craftspeople of the mountains bring out their best for this occasion, for their friends to enjoy."

Sticks in the Mud Morris Dancers is one of many music and dance groups scheduled to perform throughout the weekend.

Craftspeople will also exhibit their creative skills during the two-day festival. A Mountain Life Area will feature demonstrations of traditional knife making, corn grinding, music and blacksmithing. There will also be demonstrations of contemporary woodturning, pottery, spinning, weaving, and painting, among others, throughout the campus studios.

"Fall Festival would be a major music festival, even if that were the only thing happening," said Davidson. Nearly 200 musicians and dancers will play and dance to old-time, bluegrass, folk, gospel, and celtic music on two stages during the festival. A sampling of musical performers includes Georgia Potlickers, Blue Ridge Grass, Barney's Goat, The Mountaineers, The Trainwreks, and Cross Town Traffic, among others. Dance performers include Bravehearts Scottish Country Dancers, Rural Felicity Garland Dancers, Sticks in the Mud Morris Dancers, and Campbell Folk School Cloggers.

Area potter Marcia Bugg of Foxglove Pottery demonstrates throwing a pot to Fall Festival attendees last year.

Children will have several activities offered specifically to them, such as playing in a drum circle, face painting, and pony and wagon rides. The Humane Society's pet adoption booth will be on site offering families the chance to take home a new member.

Sixteen food vendors will serve meals, snacks, and drinks. Fall Festival is the premiere fundraising event for many local non-profit groups

that sponsor food booths. "The food is cooked by community groups, churches, schools and youth clubs to raise money for good causes, so you know it is good for you--especially the Famous Folk School Barbecue," Davidson stated.

The festival will be Saturday and Sunday, October 7 and 8, from 10:00am to 5:00pm on the school's campus on Brasstown Road in Brasstown, NC. Admission price is $5.00 for adults, $3.00 for children ages 12-17, and free for children under 12. Parking is free. For more information about Fall Festival or John C. Campbell Folk School, call 1-800- FOLK-SCH or 828-837-2775 or visit www.folkschool.org/fallfestival.