Downtown is the heart of the community, where the newspaper, the post office, the banks, the diners are – the commerce and trade that keep the community alive.

Many readers are familiar with quirky festivals involving possums, woolly worms and roadkill. With more than 30 nominees in the “Favorite Quirky Festival” category, a few more bizarre – though perhaps less well known – events stood out.

Our readers voted the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tenn., as best museum, but among the many suggestions were some intriguing destinations,