Fall Creek Falls State Park will host its 28th annual Mountaineer Folk Festival on September 8, 9 and 10, 2006. The festival features old time music, pioneer skills demonstrations, crafts and great country cooking. All activities will be held in the park’s village area.
The Festival kicks off on Friday night, September 8, with a square dance featuring the Lantana Drifters and the Blue Creek Ramblers. There will be a special guest appearance by Roy Harper.
The music continues Saturday on two stages featuring some of the best old time and bluegrass music in the region. Performers include Leroy Troy Boswell, Roy Harper, Tom Owens, Tom McCarroll, JoAnn Beach, and harmonica champion Red Best as well as the Roan Mountain Hilltoppers and Lantana Drifters string bands and bluegrass by Cumberland, the Edmons Family and Mid-South.
On Sunday, Carrie Cagle Hassler and Hard Rain will keep the music going on the Wood Stage, along with several old time gospel groups, individual singers and the Mt. Crest United Methodist Choir. The Main Stage will feature Hickory Wind and the Roan Mountain Hilltoppers.
In addition to the music, demonstrations throughout the weekend will feature sorghum molasses making, herding sheep with dogs and blacksmithing. There will be a Civil War encampment complete with periodic cannon firings. Approximately 80 craft booths with a wide variety of local wares will be spread throughout the festival location and local churches and non-profit organizations will man food booths, serving home-cooked creations.
The festival is sponsored by the “Friends of Fall Creek,” the Tennessee Arts Commission and Fall Creek Falls State Park, which has been voted by its users as one of the top family destinations in the Southeast. Protected within its boundaries are beautiful waterfalls, tremendous canyons, and dense forests. Facilities located within the park include a 250-site campground, a hotel and conference center and cabins.
The park is located 40 miles south of Cookeville, and 65 miles north of Chattanooga atop the western edge of the Cumberland Plateau.
For more information about the Mountaineer Folk Festival or other information about the park’s numerous programs, visit the Web site at www.tnstateparks.com/parks/FallCreekFalls or call (423) 881-5708. For reservations at the Fall Creek Falls State Park Inn, please call 1-800-250-8610.