The Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, the country’s longest running folk festival, now in its 85th year of highlighting mountain culture, announces the performance line-up for this summer’s festival. The Festival runs for three full evenings, Thursday, August 2 to Saturday, August 4 at the Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place in downtown Asheville. Tickets are on sale now.
Held 7:00p.m. nightly, 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 festival begins Thursday, August 2 with Hometown Appreciation Night. In keeping with the grassroots flavor of the festival, local families and individuals are encouraged to attend to help kick off the first night of the festival.
2012 Mountain Dance and Folk Festival Performance Schedule:
(Note: performers and schedule are subject to change at any time)
• Thursday, August 2: Carol Rifkin and Jerry Sutton, Masters of Ceremonies; Ed Herron; Grey Eagle (Stoney Creek Boys); George and Brooke Buckner; The Ross Brothers; Zack and Maggie Allen; Dance Team: J Creek Cloggers; Bryan McDowell; Peg Twisters; Don Pedi; Dance Team: Dixie Darlins; Roger Howell & Friends; Paul’s Creek Band; Crooked Pine Band; Dance Team: Southern Mountain Fire Smooth Dancers; Whitewater Bluegrass Company.
• Friday, August 3: Laura Boosinger and Kevin Hamlin, Masters of Ceremonies; Ed Herron; Grey Eagle (Stoney Creek Boys); Dance Team: Cole Mountain Cloggers; The Waymasters; Sam Adams; Dance Team: Southern Appalachian Cloggers; Paul Crouch; Bobby and Blue Ridge Tradition; Dance Team: Southern Mountain Smoke Cloggers; Clearwater Connection; The New Broad River Band; Laura Boosinger; Dance Team: Green Valley Cloggers; David Holt – Special Tribute to Doc Watson.
• Saturday, August 4: Richard Hurley and Glenn Bannerman, Masters of Ceremonies; Ed Herron; Grey Eagle (Stoney Creek Boys); Dance Team: Mountain Tradition Cloggers; Betty Smith; The Cockman Family; The Hollifields; Dance Team: Appalachian Mountaineers; Bryce Parham & Kathryn Brickey; Appalachian Heroes; Dance Team: Bannerman Family; Dance Team: Stoney Creek Cloggers; Richard Hurley; Trantham Family; Dance Team: Southern Mountain Fire Cloggers; Bearwallow.
Parking: Festival patrons can park off-street, at the parking garage on Biltmore Avenue – which also provides wheelchair access to the Festival – or at the various parking garages located throughout downtown Asheville.
Photo by Jerry Nelson: The Cole Mountain Cloggers Smooth Dance Team performing at the 2011 Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in 2011. The 85th Annual Mountain Dance and Folk Festival is held Thursday through Saturday, August 2-4, at Diana Wortham Theatre in downtown Asheville. Photo by Jerry Nelson.
