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BC will hold an Appalachian celebration festival, April 14, 10am-4pm.

Jacqueline Puglisi

April 12, 2012

With vendors selling local treasures, musicians, storytellers and films, BC’s Appalachian Festival has something to offer for everyone.

The festival will be April 14, 10 a.m.—4 p.m. Held in BC’s Quad, vendor exhibits will include woodworking, local food, pottery, jewelry, quilts and homemade candles. Appalachian films will be shown in Easley Library and a “Celebration of Appalachia” lunch will be served in the cafeteria.

	Fred Powers, a local storyteller who will share his tales of coal mining at the Appalachain Festival

Musicians Clinton Collins and the Creekboys, as well as Stacy Grubb, will perform bluegrass music at the festival.

BC students and faculty will also participate. SVEA will read children’s Appalachian stories and Dr. Charles Priest will perform dulcimer music. BC pottery students will also sell their pieces at the festival.

The festival’s planning committee has been working since January to ensure its success. Brenda Workman, coordinator of the Fine Arts Community School, served as the committee chairman. Along with Dr. Phyllis Owens, assistant professor of education, and Josh Cline, director of alumni relations, the committee reached out to people they knew in the area to find performers and workshop instructors for the festival.

The basket-making and herb and strawberry workshops will be led by instructors who have also taught at BC’s Fine Arts Community School.

Dr. Rob Merritt, professor of English, also assisted the committee by connecting them with the six Appalachian authors attending the festival.

This is the first year for the festival and it is part of the Appalachian Symposium, which began in September 2011, and will run through the end of the spring 2012 semester.

Workman said the planning process was fun, comparing it to beginning with an empty canvas and then painting more and more until the finished product is achieved.

The committee wants the festival to have a family-friendly atmosphere, offering something for children, parents and older guests.

At 2 p.m, there will be a closing ceremony for the “Thinking Like a Mountain: Creative Expressions of Concern for the Appalachian Mountains” art exhibit in Lansdell Hall.

Workman would like to see people spend the day experiencing everything the festival has to offer.

“Bring your family and your camping chairs and stay for the day,” Workman said.

In the case of inclement weather, the festival will be held in the Dome gymnasium.

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