Folk School gardener Jason Ebinger carding wool
By Emma Castleberry
The John C. Campbell Folk School presents its 48th annual Fall Festival on Saturday, October 5, and Sunday, October 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Visitors can stroll the wooded paths of the school’s campus and enjoy fine craft vendors, demonstrations, and music and dance performances. There will be more than 20 food vendors, including the Folk School’s famed barbecue, and children’s activities such as hands-on crafts and face painting.
Brock Martin, Folk School blacksmithing instructor
Each year the Folk School commissions a quilt to be made in celebration of the festival, and this year’s quilt will be made by Dana Bolyard. “Since quilting is an important traditional Appalachian craft,” she says, “these Fall Festival quilts are a wonderful tribute and celebration of both our local community and our special place within Appalachia. I wanted to make a quilt that for anyone who sees it, they will recognize it as something familiar, perhaps something that their grandmother would have made.”
Two stages at the festival are devoted to music and dance, presenting around 40 acts over the course of the weekend, including the St. Andrews Pipe & Drum Band, traditional English Morris Dance teams, The Folk School Cloggers exhibition team and the teen chapter of Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM). “In addition to staged events, we’ll have a participatory English Country Dance, guerilla Shape-Note singing in six-part harmony, a jam tent with instrument petting zoo and a few pop-up, busker-style shows,” says T-Claw Crawford, the School’s music and dance events coordinator.
A third stage at the festival is dedicated to craft demonstrations that showcase a variety of mediums taught at the Folk School. “Our woodcarving studio will be open with demonstrations by the renowned Brasstown Carvers, while the woodworking porch, fiber arts wet room and Blacksmith Studio will also host live demonstrations,” says Morgan Budzinski, event manager for the Folk School.
The campus itself is an experience, covered in 100-year-old trees that make for a colorful event in early October and create a cozy, autumnal atmosphere. “The Fall Festival is a homecoming of sorts, marking the changing season with warmth and tradition,” says Budzinski. “The décor and ambiance perfectly capture the spirit of the season.”
Admission to the festival is $12 for adults; $10 for veterans, seniors 65+ and teens; and free for children under 12. The print version of this story incorrectly stated that the festival was free to attend. The Laurel apologizes for this error. For more information, visit FolkSchool.org/FallFestival or call 1.800.365.5724.
