Mountain Dance and Folk Festival arrives in Asheville on Aug. 5

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Photo: Cole Mountain Cloggers, by Tony Martin

Press release here:

Asheville, NC – The Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, the country’s longest running folk festival, now in its 83rd year of highlighting mountain culture, announces the performance line-up for this summer’s festival. The Festival runs for three full evenings, Thursday, August 5 to Saturday, August 7 at the Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place in downtown Asheville. Tickets are on sale now.

Held 7:00p.m. nightly, the festival formally showcases an amazing repertoire of mountain performers — old-timers as well as the newest generation of bluegrass and mountain string bands, ballad singers, big circle mountain dancers and cloggers who share music and dance that echo centuries of Scottish, English, Irish, Cherokee and African heritage. The festival begins Thursday, August 5 with Hometown Appreciation Night; in keeping with the grassroots flavor of the festival, local families and individuals are encouraged to attend to help kick off the first night of the festival.

Audiences at each of the three performances will see an extensive line-up of the best musicians, ballad singers and dancers; each evening features at least four dance teams from the very young to the young at heart. The popular and long-standing house band the Stoney Creek Boys returns to perform each evening. And each night of the festival features both well-known musicians and new talent alike, representative of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and its continuing traditions.

Highlighted throughout this year’s Mountain Dance and Folk Festival are “Legacy Performers.” These individuals are recognized as having made significant contributions to our region’s musical heritage over several decades.

Thursday, August 5: Carol Rifkin and Jerry Sutton, Masters of Ceremonies; Grey Eagle (Stoney Creek Boys); Ed Herron; dance team Mountain Tradition Cloggers; Ralph Lewis, Legacy Performer; The Whitewater Bluegrass Company; Don Pedi; dance team UNCA Smooth Dancers; Paul’s Creek Band; George and Brooke Buckner; Adam Masters and Friends; dance team Dixie Darlin’s; Phil and Gaye Johnson; Peg Twisters; Red June; dance team the Appalachian Mountaineers; Annie Shores; dance team Xtream Tradition; and Shaped Note Singers.

Friday, August 6: Laura Boosinger and Flora MacDonald Gammon, Masters of Ceremonies; Stoney Creek Boys; dance team Fines Creek Flat Footers; Paul Crouch, Legacy Performer; Clearwater Connection; Appalachia Song; dance team Bailey Mountain Smooth Dancers; Bobby Hicks; Twelve Gates with Sam Adams; Dehlia Low; dance team Southern Appalachian Cloggers; Flora MacDonald Gammon; dance team Bailey Mountain Cloggers; Bobby & Blue Ridge Tradition; Denise O’Sullivan; dance team Southern Mountain Fire Cloggers; Laura Boosinger.

Saturday, August 7: Richard Hurley and Glenn Bannerman, Masters of Ceremonies; Stoney Creek Boys; dance team Stoney Creek Cloggers; Betty Smith, Legacy Performer; Hominy Valley Boys; dance team Avery Smooth Dancers; Roger Howell, Katherine Parham and Friends; Leonard Hollifield and Friends; Snyder Family Band; dance team Cole Mountain Cloggers; The Griggs; Richard Hurley; Donna Norton; Bannerman Family & Friends dancers; Bryan McDowell & Friends; and dance team Green Valley Cloggers.

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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1 Comment

  1. Brant July 25, 2010

    That’s my daughter in the pink skirt up near the top of the photo. 🙂

    Reply

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