Sunset over a mountain range festival guide cover | Blue Ridge Country
Prepare to party in 2019: Our annual festival guide points the way to great gatherings from the Virginias and the Carolinas to Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky. Find food, beer and wine plus rubber ducky races, apples, peaches, barbecue, bluegrass – and Santa Claus. Your adventures await.
Let’s get started!
MAY
May 2-5 Come Savor Blowing Rock with the ripening of spring at Blowing Rock, North Carolina, as wine and food tastings mix with live music on Main Street (828-295-7851).
May 3-4 The Firefighter’s Parade (May 3) and Grand Feature Parade (May 4) rank as highlights of the long-running Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival in Old Town Winchester Virginia (thebloom.com). Also in Virginia: Roanoke’s Strawberry Festival offers family-friendly farm fun (540-563-5036). Look for the Wild Edibles Festival at Watoga State Park in Pocahontas County, West Virginia (304-799-4087). Clinch River Spring Antique Fair comes to downtown Clinton, Tennessee, with a Friday night kick-off party and all-day exhibits on Saturday (865-457-4547). You can also celebrate the shortest season with Townsend’s Spring Festival & Old Timers Day in Tennessee, featuring Appalachian history and crafts, bluegrass music, wildflower walks, storytelling and clogging (865-448-6134).
May ~ 3-5 A gathering of the world’s most luxurious and exotic automobiles can be found at the Greenbrier Concours d’Elegance at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia (greenbrierconcours.com).
May 4 ~ Take a sip of the Budbreak Wine & Craft Beer Festival, running noon-6 p.m. in downtown Mount Airy, North Carolina (budbreakfestival.com). Or wander into Waynesboro, Virginia, for Riverfest, offering Reptile World shows and Stream Safari (riverfestwaynesboro.org). In Georgia, WineFest hits the Habersham Winery of Helen (706-878-9463). You’ll also find craft beer, artists and vineyards at the Toast of Toccoa in Toccoa, Georgia (706-282-3309).
May 4-5 ~ Georgia Apple Blossom Festival eases into East Ellijay, Georgia (georgiaappleblossomfestival.com).
May 7-11 ~ Wilderness Wildlife Week offers educational programs and guided hikes of the Great Smoky Mountains at Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (mypigeonforge.com).
May 9-12 ~ North Carolina’s Lake Eden hosts the LEAF Festival to share community and culture through music and arts (theleaf.org). You can also take the Wildflower Pilgrimage at Blackwater Falls in Tucker County, West Virginia (304-259-5315 / canaanvalley.org).
May 10-12 ~ Explore handcrafts, games and yummy festival food for three days at the Pilot Mountain Mayfest in North Carolina (pilotmountainnc.org). In South Carolina, Artisphere returns to downtown Greenville with a nationally renowned festival featuring more than 250 artists plus 20 live musical performances (artisphere.us).
May 11 ~ The Crooked Road Youth Music Festival features 15 bands at Southwest Virginia Cultural Center and Marketplace in Abingdon, Virginia (276-492-2409). Also in Virginia: Of Ale and History Beer Festival beckons at the Belle Grove Plantation of Middletown (bellegrove.org).
May 16-18 ~ Plein Air Festival blows into Blowing Rock, North Carolina, with a Wet Paint Show & Sale at the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum (828-295-9099).
May 17-18 ~ You’ll find live music, beer tastings, wine and barbecue at Racks by the Tracks in Kingsport, Tennessee (racksbythetracks.com). Bloomin’ BBQ and Bluegrass Festival fires up downtown Sevierville, Tennessee (888-889-7415). Or you can watch the Georgia Mountain EggFest roll into the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds at Hiawassee with a cooking celebration of the Big Green Egg (mountainegg.com).
May 17-19 ~ About 20,000 trail hikers are expected to dance into Damascus, Virginia, during the Appalachian Trail Days festival (traildays.us). Rhythm N’ Blooms Festival enlivens Knoxville, Tennessee, with a celebration of culture and history plus music by The Black Lillies and My Brightest Diamond (rhythmbloomsfest.com). For more music, wander to the Wanderlust Muzik Fest near Sandstone Falls in Hinton, West Virginia (304-466-4199).
May 18 ~ Want wine? Well, we might as well name May 18 the official “Wine Day of Blue Ridge Country,” considering:
- Front Royal offers the Virginia Wine & Craft Festival (wineandcraftfestival.com) near Skyline Drive;
- You can savor the Yadkin Valley Wine Festival just off the Blue Ridge Parkway at Elkin, North Carolina (yvwf.com);
- Take a taste of wine at the Mountain Laurel Festival, held near the Morgan County Courthouse in downtown Wartburg, Tennessee (423-628-5252);
- EPIC Fest Beer & Wine Festival comes to Elkton, Virginia, on the grounds of the Elkton Volunteer Fire Company Activities Building (540-298-8555).
Also on May 18: Local Colors features a multicultural program in Roanoke, Virginia (localcolors.org).
May 19 ~ You may smell like a skunk but there’s a prize if you eat the most ramps at the Ramp Festival of Whitetop, Virginia. This party celebrates a pungent member of the leek family that grows wild and tastes great with fried potatoes (276-388-3480).
May 23 ~ Taste of Ellijay includes everything culinary in Ellijay, Georgia (tasteofellijay.com).
May 23-25 ~ Dr. Ralph Stanley Memorial Weekend Hills of Home Bluegrass Festival features camping, craft vendors and food (drralphstanleyfestival.com).
May 23-26 ~ Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival comes to Pop’s Farm near Martinsville, Virginia (roosterwalk.com). Also in Virginia: The Crooked Road Dulcimer Festival at Blue Ridge Institute and Museum occupies the Ferrum College campus with over 40 mountain dulcimer classes (blueridgeinstitute.org).
May 24-25 ~ Chantilly Farm Bluegrass & BBQ Festival blossoms on the Chantilly Farm in Floyd, Virginia, with live music, kite flying, children’s area, beer and wine garden, camping and more (chantillyfarm.com).
May 24-26 ~ White Sulphur Springs hosts the West Virginia Dandelion Festival with a parade, kid’s zone and a fishing derby (Wvdandelionfestival.com). The White Squirrel Festival features food and music in Brevard, North Carolina (whitesquireelfestival.com). ArtSpring arrives in Tucker County, West Virginia (artspringwv.com).
May 24-June 2 ~ Dollywood’s Barbeque & Bluegrass spotlights tasty pulled pork and barbecued chicken while staging 10 days of toe-tappin’ tunes from the likes of Rhonda Vincent & The Rage at the theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (dollywood.com).
May 25 ~ Massanutten, Virginia, hosts the ValleyFest Beer & Wine Festival with crafts and spirits of the scenic Shenandoah Valley (valleyfestbeerandwine.com). In nearby West Virginia, enjoy the Alderson Strawberry Festival, welcoming the sweet taste of summer at Alderson, West Virginia, with a pie auction and pancake breakfast (greenbrierwv.com). Plumb Alley Day mixes crafts, crowds and bagpipers at Abingdon, Virginia (abingdonkiwanis.org).
May 25-26 ~ Hendersonville’s Main Street transforms into a gardener’s oasis for Garden Jubilee with more than 250 vendors in North Carolina, offering plants, furniture, yard art and garden tools (visithendersonvillenc.org). The Spring Arts, Crafts & Music Festival comes to downtown Blairsville, Georgia (706-745-5493) while Arts in the Park beckons at Blue Ridge, Georgia (blueridgemountains.com). In West Virginia, the Wine & Jazz Festival shows up at Snowshoe Mountain Resort (877-441-4386).
May 29-June 1 ~ Keith Urban ranks among the top performers at this year’s Riverbend Music Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee (riverbendfestival.com).
May 30-June 1 ~ Lift up to the air with the Helen to the Atlantic Hot Air Balloon Race in Helen, Georgia (helenballoon.com).
May 30–June 2 ~ Mountain Music Festival comes to West Virginia’s ACE Adventure Resort in Oak Hill with over 25 bands including The Floozies and Big Something (833-275-0966).
May 31-June 2 ~ Toe River Spring Studio Tour offers a chance to meet artists across Yancey and Mitchell counties in North Carolina (toeriverarts.org). NC Trail Days comes to Elkin, North Carolina, at the juncture of three great trails for bikes, boats or boots (nctraildays.com).
JUNE
June 1 ~ North Carolina Gold Festival rolls into the Mountain Gateway Museum at Old Fort (828-668-9259) while, in Virginia, the Alleghany Highlands Heritage Day & Railway Festival cruises into Clifton Forge (alleghanyhighlandsheritageday.com). Also in Virginia: Winchester Wings & Wheels Festival makes a landing at the Winchester Regional Airport (540-662-5786). Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival features Bil Lepp and Bobby Norfolk at the Historic Grove Theatre in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (flatwatertales.com). Also in Tennessee: Nine Lakes Wine Festival showcases more than 100 kinds of Tennessee wine (ninelakeswinefestival.com).
June 6-8 ~ Come for the carnival and circus at the Poke Sallet Festival in the heart of Harlan, Kentucky. You’ll also find a food court and bungee jumping (606-573-4156).
June 7-8 ~ Smoky Mountain Antique Engine & Tractor Festival revs up at the Anderson County Career & Tech Center with antique tractors, slow tractor race, arts, crafts and music at Clinton, Tennessee (smaeta.org). Also in Tennessee:Secret City Festival offers arts, history, science, food and music at Oak Ridge’s A.K. Bissell Park (secretcityfestival.com). On the same weekend, rosin-up your bow for the Fiddlers Convention at Veterans Memorial Park at Mount Airy, North Carolina (mtairyfiddlersconvention.com) or discover the new Laurel Cove Music Festival at the Cove Amphitheater inside Kentucky’s Pine Mountain State Resort Park (606-337-3066).
June 7-9 ~ Plein Air – Art in the Mountains comes to Ellijay, Georgia, with an outdoor painting event (www.gilmerarts.com).
June 7-15 ~ The Crooked Road’s Mountains of Music Homecoming is a celebration of all the communities in southwest Virginia – their traditional music, cuisine, arts and craft, history and great outdoors (mtnsofmusic.com).
June 8 ~ All things outdoors can be found at XtremeFest of the Blue Ridge in Waynesboro, Virginia - with rock climbs, trick cycling, bungee jumping, kayaking and knockerball (waynesboro.va.us). Also in Virginia: Hop Blossom Craft Beer Festival comes to Old Town Winchester (visitwinchesterva.com). The Mermaid Parade and Festival swims into Marshall, North Carolina (downmarshallnc.com). State of Origin Beer Fest bubbles in downtown Morganton, North Carolina (fontaflora.com).
June 8-9 ~ Blairsville’s Scottish Festival & Highland Games in Georgia features music, dancing and food with a Scottish flair. Also see border collies herd sheep and falcons swoop down on prey (706-745-5789).
June 13-16 ~ Ansted Hometown Festival features a coal-shoveling contest in Ansted, West Virginia (304-632-1002).
June 14-15 ~ Henry Reed Memorial Fiddlers Convention celebrates the life of an old-time fiddler who lived at Glen Lyn in Giles County, Virginia. This year’s festival is held at the nearby Newport Community Center in Newport, Virginia (540-921-0166).
June 14-16 ~ West Virginia’s Ronceverte River Festival offers food, music and the Great Rubber Ducky Race at Island Park on the banks of the Greenbrier River (cityofronceverte.com). Also in West Virginia: Cass Homecoming steams into Cass Scenic Railroad State Park (304-456-4300).
June 14-23 ~ History comes alive with costumed performances at the Chautauqua Festival of Greenville, South Carolina (greenvillechautauquafestival.org).
June 15 ~ Also in Tennessee: Lavender Festival fills up Historic Jackson Square at Oak Ridge with artisans, live music, food and informative presentations (jacksonsquarelavenderfest.org). Over in Kentucky, Firkin Fest features more than 100 craft beers and live music at Ashland (visitashlandky.com). For music lovers: Wayne C. Henderson Music Festival and Guitar Competition visits Grayson Highlands State Park near Mouth of Wilson, Virginia (waynehenderson.org). Also in Virginia: Blue Ridge Herb Lore Gathering comes to the Ferrum College campus (blueridgeinstitute.org); High Knob Music Festival hits the High Knob Recreation Area near Norton, Virginia (nortonva.gov); and Blacksburg’s Summer Solstice Festival includes a crafts fair and beach party (downtownblacksburg.com).
June 15-16 ~ Lavender Thyme Festival comes to the Beagle Ridge Herb Farm at Wytheville, Virginia (beagleridge.org). On the same weekend, the Chautauqua Festival (running to June 22) lands in Wytheville with music, arts and a hot air balloon launch (wythe-arts.org).
June 21-22 ~ Look for craft beer in Maryville, Tennessee, at Hops in the Hills (hopsinthehills.org).
June 22 ~ In Georgia, you can raise a glass to toast the summer at the Blue Ridge Mountains Wine and Jazz Festival (706-698-1275). Knoxville Brewfest celebrates East Tennessee suds (9lakeseasttn.com).
June 22-23 ~ Mountain Fling comes to Blairsville’s North Georgia Technical College (artworksgalleryga.com). Lap up the Lavender Festival at the Beliveau Estate Winery in Montgomery County, Virginia (540-200-7905). Roan Mountain Rhododendron Festival returns to Tennessee along the North Carolina border (roanmountain.com).
June 27–July 6 ~ Buchanan Community Carnival sets up in the small town of Buchanan, Virginia (townofbuchanan.com).
June 28-30 ~ Back Home Appalachian Arts & Music Festival features the Allman Betts Band at New Martinsville, West Virginia (backhomefestival.com). Little Levels Heritage Fair heads to Hillsboro, West Virginia (800-336-7009).
June 29 ~ Cass Logging Days rolls into Cass Scenic Railroad State Park in West Virginia (304-456-4300).
June 29-30 ~ Made In Georgia Festival occupies the Towns County Georgia Recreation & Conference Center at Young Harris with all that’s made, brewed, grown, crafted, stitched and harvested (706-896-4966)...
...END OF PREVIEW
The excerpt above is from our May/June 2019 issue. For the rest of the guide - including hundreds more festivals coming up between July and December, subscribe today or log in to the digital edition with your active digital subscription.
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