Fall Music and Craft Festivals

William Koch

William Koch is long-time resident of Chapel Hill and retired faculty member of UNC-CH. He offers these suggestions for how to experience Mountain Heritage Day.

We make a point of blocking out the last weekend in September for Mountain Heritage Day, which we’ve attended for the past eight years. It’s always a delightful day. We soak up the mountain arts, crafts and music and go home satisfied and renewed by the culture of the region.

Mountain Heritage Day is a relaxing event. Dress is hardly formal, but by the end of the day, a hat with a brim can definitely make the difference between having a bright red face and one of a more natural color. With a few exceptions, all events and demonstrations are held on an open field with hay bales set about to relieve weary feet and to provide a place to sit while enjoying lunch from the various vendors.

The hay bales also provide some of the seating for the numerous musical events that go on throughout the day at the two big stages and other places in between.

Definitely go for the music. This is all traditional mountain music, but the variety is wide and definitely engaging—feet are tapping and hands are clapping in time to lively rhythms. There are gospel choirs, usually early in the morning and shape note singing in the morning and afternoon, open to all who want to participate. The whole field, with stages at either end and the auditorium are accessible for individuals with limited mobility.

This is Jackson County, and there is a significant Native American population. There are demonstrations of the Cherokee cultural arts in easily accessible locations and the artists are warm and receptive to exchanges with everyone who stops by. You can’t avoid seeing and hearing the Cherokee Indian ball games played in the middle of the field throughout the day. Explanations accompany the game, and it is played with considerable enthusiasm by local Cherokee young men.

Seeing everything that’s offered is a considerable challenge. Judging for locally-prepared foods takes place early in the day, along with some of the foot races and wood sawing demonstrations. Music continues throughout the entire day, allowing you to drop in and out of performances as desired. If you crave more physical activity, walk down memory lane and look at the old car display. Or visit the extensive array of craft vendors to get a start your holiday shopping.

Above all, go to the Mountain Heritage Center, chat with the staff and see the exhibit—all of which relate directly to the Southern Appalachians, the people, their history and their cultural arts. As a day for families, children, couples of all ages and just plain friends, Mountain Heritage Day is hard to top.

Alice Ahlers

Alice Ahlers, age 70, describes herself as a “perpetual student” who has been attending classes at the John C. Campbell Folk School since her retirement in 1996. Her father was born in Hendersonville, N.C., and she currently lives in Atlanta, a two-and-a-half hour drive from Brasstown. Even so, Ahlers has taken 178 classes at the Folk School to date, the most of any student. “I guess if anybody knows about the craft school, it would be me,” she said.

Ahlers is also a long-time attendee of the Fall Festival. She enjoys meeting new artists as well as nurturing the relationships she’s developed with artists over the years, many of whom she’s met while taking classes. “I’m interested in crafts and the things made by hand,” she says. “The range of what’s available is remarkable. From iron objects made by blacksmiths to basketry to alpaca wool for knitting, there’s something for everybody. I do make the rounds and I always buy things. You can’t go there and not buy things!”

She usually attends the Festival over one long Saturday, leaving home about 7:30 a.m. and heading back after sundown. She makes “the circle” past the dining hall, festival barn, artist studios and vendors at her own pace, pausing to watch the cloggers or to enjoy lunch on the grounds—one of the blacksmiths roasts a pig in an open pit, and there are typical festival offerings like hot dogs, hamburgers and sandwiches.

“I’ve gone with friends, but I know so many people there that I see people I know throughout the day, either enjoying it as I’m doing, or working there in some capacity. I have also brought grandkids and they have enjoyed it thoroughly.”

No matter what brings her there, Ahlers says it’s always a good day at the John C. Campbell Folk School.

“It’s a lovely campus on a rolling terrain, surrounded by beautiful mountains,” she says. “The people there are very friendly, generous and good hearted, the way people used to be. It’s a magical place with a sense of community. But even though it’s a very homey, rural atmosphere, the artisanship and the workmanship are always top notch.”