09 May 2009

Good Times at the Appalachian Festival (UPDATED!)

(Updated with event info link at bottom)

The river level is high. To put it in historical perspective, the 1937 flood would have put these kids under about 50 feet of water!


There is a plethora of high quality arts & crafts at the festival. Here is one example, Parsley Pottery. Pottery fans will want to check this out for sure. Don't expect any bargains, though.


There was music all over the place. You can't walk one minute without coming across a person or group performing. And they're all good. It is worth going just for the music.


Making a bowl. This is really cool because it goes beyond just putting out arts, crafts and furniture for people to buy. People are actually making the things right in front of you and they will tell you all about it. A bowl is not that exciting but other stuff is: metal forging, chair making, basket weaving, spinning.


To you, it's a bath rug... to this person, it's a purse! Also on this rack is the Rolls-Royce of fanny packs, I kid you not.


Just a few of the hundreds and hundreds of quilts.


A resonator dulcimer? Yes, there is such a thing. They call it a "dulcimbro!"


Pat Maley is a certified master spinner and will tell you everything you ever wanted to know (and more) about the history of spinning fibers, which, as it turns out, is part of American folk history. Seriously, she is an encyclopedia of information about this subject and a very engaging speaker. If you go to the festival, do not miss her!


Goofy yard ornaments. This is about as close to Gatlinburgesque kitsch as it got.


Wooden frogs. When the stick is pulled out and rubbed across the frog's back, the result is a sound like a frog croaking! Kids loved it.


The event ends Sunday. For info go here.

5 comments:

liz said...

wow, so cool... where is this? i've never heard of it

WestEnder said...

Coney Island! I added the link to the post. Sunday is the last day, though!

Mark said...

Was that Sunset Dawn in the third picture?

I used to work at Coney about 25 years ago and they had something like this (but I think under a different name). It and the Dead concerts made the rest of the season worthwhile.

WestEnder said...

I'm not sure what the group was... in fact, now that I think about it, none of the performers had a banner or sign with their name. They were just there, playing. One trio found a spot in the middle of the "marketplace" area and just set up there.

Dan said...

'Gatlinburgesque' - Love it!