The Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, founded by Bascom Lamar Lunsford in 1928, is the country’s longest-running folk festival. Mountain fiddlers, banjo pickers, dulcimer sweepers, dancers, balladeers, and others have come to enjoy themselves “along about sundown” the first weekend in August.
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 popular and long-standing house band, the Stoney Creek Boys, returns to perform each evening. Each night of the festival features both well-known musicians and new talent alike, representing the Southern Appalachian Mountains and its continuing traditions.
In 2024, performers at the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival will take the stage for the 97th time at Kittredge Theatre at Warren Wilson College 701 Warren Wilson Rd, Swannanoa, NC 28788. The event stretches across three days, August 1-3. For times, tickets, line-ups, and future dates visit https://folkheritage.org/
Tune in to this WNCW Radio Segment as Paul Foster (host) and Laura Boosinger (guest) discuss the event’s history. (2024)
