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| Working animal competitions, moonshine still most popular attractions |
Staff Photo by Stacey Hairston:
Among the popular contests at the 39th annual Blue Ridge Folklife Festival Saturday at Ferrum College was the mule jumping contest.
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Wednesday, October 31, 2012
By STACEY HAIRSTON - Staff Writer
The 39th annual Blue Ridge Folklife Festival drew a large crowd last Saturday with food, music, crafts, demonstrations and competitions.
"Considering the weather, we had a wonderful crowd," said Roddy Moore, director of the Blue Ridge Institute and organizer of the folklife festival. "The weather held some folks back, but overall, the turnout was great."
"I'd say we had just as many visitors this year as last year," said John Carlin, Ferrum College public relations director.
More than 20 food vendors prepared old-time Blue Ridge country food on site.
"People appreciate the types of food we have," said Moore.
Over 50 musicians performed on four stages and well over 40 different craftsmen added to the attraction of the festival.
Several new musicians and crafters attended this year, Moore said, and it was all well received.
Storytelling and reunion performances by the Jack Tale Players also entertained the crowd.
Horse pulling contests, sheep herding demonstrations, mule jumping competitions and coon dog treeing contests were huge crowd pleasers, as well as the coon dog water racing.
"The working animal contests are always popular, as well as the moonshine still exhibit," said Moore.
"The moonshine discussion was really big this year because of the movie 'Lawless'," said Carlin.
Exhibits such as corn meal grinding, wheat threshing, hay bailing, corn shredding and rock crushing served to inform visitors of Blue Ridge folklife. Guests of the festival also viewed examples of antique engines, tractors and vintage cars.
"We are very pleased with the crowd," said Carlin. "We had a solid crowd, good solid support and the vendors were happy with the outcome."
The folklife festival is held annually on the fourth Saturday in October. |
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