George Brooke Buckner
Mars Hill University Hosts Bascom Lamar Lunsford “Minstrel of Appalachia” Festival
The second longest running folk festival in the region is set to host a day full of mountain music, dance and crafts on Saturday, October 1, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with an evening concert to follow at 7 p.m. at the Moore Auditorium at Mars Hill University.
This year’s 49th annual Bascom Lamar Lunsford “Minstrel of Appalachia” festival focuses on regional ballad traditions. The daytime stage will host a variety of local and regional musicians, dancers and performers who carry on the legacy of mountain music.
The ballad and story swap is a festival favorite and has kept the legacy of preservation alive in the mountains for many years. Another highlight will be a special talk from Dr. Betty Smith sharing the legacy of Jane Hicks Gentry, who is credited with sharing countless ballads from Madison County.
“This is an important year because it marks the centennial trip of Cecil Sharp, an English folklorist who, much like Lunsford, sought out songs, dances and stories of people in Madison County in 1916,” says Hannah Furgiuele, festival director. “I hope that visitors will enjoy a beautiful fall festival, with family activities and memories to be made, but also recognize that this year marks one hundred years that the tradition continues to be celebrated and passed forward to the next generation.”
Louise Goings, Cherokee basket weaver
To accompany a day of mountain music, the festival will serve traditional food and display local art. There will be apple butter making, Cherokee basket weaving and two special photographic exhibits. The Cecil Sharp exhibit will feature photography by David Holt, John Cohen and Rob Amberg, as well as a collection of audio recordings from old-time singers.
An additional exhibit titled “A Walk in Big Ivy” will feature photographs by Steven McBride of Weaverville. The photos represent McBride’s conservation project that aims to protect the Big Ivy section of Pisgah National Forest.
The preservation of mountain music was the life work of Bascom Lamar Lunsford, the festival’s namesake. Lunsford dedicated his career to gathering ballads and tales from the hills and coves of Appalachia. He founded the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in Asheville in 1928 and later allowed the Mars Hill festival to carry his name with an agreement that the festival would be forever dedicated to preserving and cultivating mountain music and dance.
All daytime festivities will be on the Mars Hill University campus and are free to the public. Tickets for the evening concert at Moore Auditorium on the Mars Hill campus are $12 for adults and $5 for children under 12. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the concert begins at 7 p.m. Mars Hill University faculty, staff and students are admitted free with a university ID. For more information visit lunsfordfestival.com.
