Guidebook Venues and Events by Region

Venues and Events Featured in the Blue Ridge Music Trails Guidebook

The “trails” contained in the Blue Ridge Music Trails Guidebook are not linear, but rather divided into six districts within the 29 counties comprising the Blue Ridge Music Trails. Listed below are the titles of each of the major chapters in the book, the counties they represent, and 60 venues and events that are profiled in the book.  The names of the regions are taken from the titles of traditional mountain music songs.

Altogether there are more than 160 traditional music events and venues in Western North Carolina. These will be included in a new Blue Ridge Music Trails website that will launch in July, 2013.

Region 1: Sprout Wings and Fly
(Surry, Stokes, Rockingham, Iredell, and Yadkin Counties)

Venues and Events:

• The Barn, Eden.
• Tommy Jarrell Festival, last weekend in February, Old-Time Music and Heritage Hall, Mount Airy.
• Yadkin Valley Bluegrass Convention, third weekend in April, Yadkinville Elementary School, Yadkinville.
• Union Grove Old Time Fiddlers’ Convention, Easter weekend, Fiddlers Grove Campground, Union Grove.
• Mount Airy Bluegrass and Old-Time Fiddlers Convention first weekend in June, Veterans Memorial Park, Mount Airy.
• Charlie Poole Festival, second weekend in June, Governor Morehead Park, Eden.
• Stokes Stomp, second weekend in September, Moratock Park, Danbury.

Region 2: Feed Me on Cornbread and Beans
(Caldwell, Wilkes, Alleghany, Ashe, and Watauga Counties)

Venues and Events:

• Sims Country Bar-B-Que, Dudley.
• Whippoorwill Academy and the Tom Dooley Museum, Ferguson.
• WKBC’s Hometown Opry, North Wilkesboro.
• Wilkes Heritage Museum and the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame, Wilkesboro.
• The Alleghany Jubilee, Sparta.
• Old Helton School Hog Stomp Jam Sessions, Sturgills.
• Phipps General Store Jam, Lansing.
• Jam Sessions at the Todd General Store, Todd.
• Todd Concert Series, Todd.
• Dances at the Todd Mercantile, Todd.
• Music at the Jones House Community Center, Boone.
• MerleFest, last weekend in April, Wilkesboro Community College, Wilkesboro.
• Heritage Day and Kiln Opening, last Saturday in June, Bolick Family Pottery, Lenoir.
• Music Fest ‘n Sugar Grove, second weekend in July, Cove Creek School, Sugar Grove.
• Ola Belle Reed Music Festival, second weekend in August, Lansing Creeper Trail Park, Lansing.
• Happy Valley Old-Time Fiddlers Convention, Labor Day weekend, Jones Farm, Lenoir.
• Todd New River Festival, second Saturday in October, Cook Park, Todd.

Region 3: It Strikes With Terror in My Heart
(Mitchell, Avery, McDowell, and Yancey Counties)

Venues and Events:

• Young’s Mountain Music, Spruce Pine.
• Live Music at the Orchard at Altapass, Altapass.
• RiddleFest, third Saturday in February, Burnsville Town Center, Burnsville.
• Singing on the Meadow at MacRae Meadows, fourth Saturday in June, Grandfather Mountain, Linville.
• Music in the Mountains Folk Festival, last Saturday in September, Burnsville Town Center, Burnsville.

Region 4: Asheville Junction, Swannanoa Tunnel
(Buncombe, Madison, Henderson, and Transylvania Counties)

Venues and Events:

• Shindig on the Green, Asheville.
• Bluegrass Jam at Zuma Coffee, Marshall.
• Thursday Night Jam at the Silvermont Mansion, Brevard.
• Songcatchers Music Series at the Cradle of Forestry, Pisgah Forest.
• Etowah Christian Harmony Singing, Saturday before first Sunday in May and September, Cummings Memorial Methodist Church, Mills River.
• Bluff Mountain Festival, second Saturday in June, Hot Springs Spa and Resort, Hot Springs.
• Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, Thursday – Saturday of the first week in August, Diana Wortham Theatre, Asheville.
• Bascom Lamar Lunsford Minstrel of Appalachia Festival, first Saturday in October, Mars Hill College, Mars Hill.

Region 5: Flint Hill Special
(Cleveland, Burke, Rutherford, and Polk Counties)

Venues and Events:

• Earl Scruggs Center, Shelby.
• Don Gibson Theatre, Shelby.
• Bluegrass at the Old Rock School, Valdese.
• Jam Sessions at the Barber Shop, Drexel.
• King Pup Radio Show, Polk, Rutherford, and Cleveland Counties.
• Red, White and Bluegrass Festival, surrounding July 4th, Catawba Meadows Park, Morganton.
• Coon Dog Day, first Saturday in July, downtown Saluda.
• Liver Mush Expo and Art of Sound Festival, Thursday – last Saturday in October, downtown Shelby.
• Christian Harmony Singing at Saint John’s Church, Saturday before second Sunday in December, Rutherfordton.

Region 6: Walking the King’s Highway
(Haywood, Swain, Graham, Cherokee, Clay, Macon, and Jackson Counties

Venues and Events:

• Waynesville Street Dance, Waynesville.
• Music and Dance at the Stompin’ Ground, Maggie Valley.
• The Maggie Valley Opry House, Maggie Valley.
• Music in the Mountains at the Bryson City Railroad Depot, Bryson City.
• Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center, Stecoah.
• Jimmy’s Pick N Grin, Andrews.
• John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown.
• Clay’s Corner New Year’s Possum Drop and Weekly Jam Sessions, Brasstown.
• Jam Sessions at the T. M. Rickman Store, Cowee.
• Thursday Concert and Jam Session at Western Carolina University, Cullowhee.
• Fading Voices Festival and the Snowbird Mountain Singing, Memorial Day weekend, Snowbird Community near Robbinsville.
• The Smoky Mountain Folk Festival, Labor Day weekend, Lake Junaluska.
• Mountain Heritage Day, last Saturday in September, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee.