Shindig on the Green returns to Pack Square Park on Saturday

Here’s the news:

Summer is here – and that means that Shindig on the Green is back! Join us this Saturday, July 3 for the first Shindig of the season. The 44th annual edition celebrates the return to the heart of downtown Asheville as Shindig moves to the new Pack Square Park’s Roger McGuire Green. The stage shows will take place on the new Bascom Lamar Lunsford stage, named for the founder of the annual Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in Asheville. Join us “Along About Sundown” (or ~7:00 p.m. for those who wear a watch) as we kick off another delightful season of this celebrated mountain tradition.

A special stage dedication will be included in evening, with a ribbon cutting ceremony and an opening performance by a “Homecoming Dance Team” to honor the hard work of Bascom Lamar Lunsford, who labored for decades to preserve the traditional music and dance of the Southern Appalachians.

Opening the evening is the Stoney Creek Boys, Shindig’s house band, followed by ribbon cuttings to dedicate the stage. The ribbon cutting ceremony will include representatives from the City of Asheville, Buncombe County, and members of the original Folk Heritage Committee who started Shindig on the Green 44 years ago.

Then taking the stage to dedicate it properly will be a “Homecoming Dance Team” made up of couples representing different dance teams that have performed at Shindig and the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in the past. To honor the smooth dance and clogging dance forms that Bascom Lamar Lunsford worked so hard to preserve, the Homecoming Dance Team will represent both of these forms on stage in a special performance.

The Shindig program will then continue as usual featuring the following dance teams this week:

• UNC-Asheville Smooth Dancers

• Cole Mountain Cloggers

• Southern Appalachian Cloggers