Appalachian Festival Returns to FSU Sept. 14 Through 16 With “Experiencing the Feminine in Appalachia: Women, Gender and Place”

Aug 22, 2023 8:00 AM

Frostburg State University’s much-anticipated Appalachian Festival will return to campus for its 18th year Thursday, Sept. 14, to Saturday, Sept. 16. The free, family-friendly event brings together artists and craftspeople to celebrate all that makes the region unique – its history, culture, music and dance, folk arts, food and more – with performances, workshops, displays, discussions and activities. This year’s event focuses on “Experiencing the Feminine in Appalachia: Women, Gender and Place.”

The capstone event is a concert by the Martha Redbone Roots Project in Frostburg’s historic Palace Theatre on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Native and African American vocalist and composer Martha Redbone is known for her unique gumbo of folk, blues and gospel. Inheriting the powerful vocal range of her gospel-singing African American father and the resilient spirit of her mother’s Cherokee, Shawnee and Choctaw culture, she masterfully broadens the boundaries of American roots music. The Roots Project showcases a range of folk, country, Piedmont blues, gospel, bluegrass, soul and Southeastern Woodlands. With songs and storytelling that share her life experience as a Native and Black woman and mother in the new millennium, Redbone gives voice to issues of social justice, bridging traditions from past to present, connecting cultures and celebrating the human spirit. Tickets are $15 for adults and $13.50 for children and the military and can be purchased at the door or ordered online.

Events kick off in Frostburg’s Palace Theatre on Thursday at 7 p.m. with the film, “Finding Home,” by FSU alum and Frostburg native, Sidney Beeman, which follows the journey of a young Burmese immigrant, Cing Khek, and her family as they search for opportunities to build a new and better life in the conservative stronghold of West Virginia. The film depicts the ethnic diversity of the Appalachian region, the economic forces causing people to migrate to this area and the choices individuals make to stay within the region. At its core, the film empowers a diverse cast of Appalachian citizens to reclaim their own narrative in a region that is often dominated by stereotypes.

The festival’s Friday on-campus symposium continues the theme “Experiencing the Feminine in Appalachia: Women, Gender and Place.” The symposium features a powerful collection of presentations and discussions that will show the influential role women have in shaping concepts of place. Although each presentation features a different topic, all are connected by a common dedication to the women of Appalachia.

Events begin at 1 p.m. with “Women Leaders at FSU,” during which a panel will explore how women leaders have shaped FSU. The culture for women in the early days will be described, together with how current challenges to create a more equitable campus are being addressed by faculty, staff and student leaders.

This will be followed by “An Intergenerational Discussion on Gender” at 2 p.m. Join FSU students and members of Allegany County’s Women’s Action Coalition to explore the generational shifts in definitions of the terms feminine and gender.

At 3 p.m., “Women’s Monologues: Suffragist History in Mountain Maryland” looks at the brave voices from this region that worked tirelessly for women’s suffrage and how their legacy continues in the contemporary movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The monologues are brief, single-person portrayals of local women of history who made a difference in securing the fundamental rights for all citizens. They are based on the citizen research of AAUW-Garrett Branch members and friends and of students and faculty of Allegany College of Maryland.

Then, at 4:30 p.m., Kate Kelly, attorney, ERA advocate and the author of “Ordinary Equality: The Fearless Women and Queer People Who Shaped the U.S. Constitution and the Equal Rights Amendment,” will discuss the more than 200-year fight against gender discrimination in this country and the lives of the incredible people who have helped waged that fight.

In a virtual presentation at 5:30 p.m., “Hill Women: Telling the Stories of Women in Appalachia,” Appalachian lawyer Cassie Chambers pays tribute to the strong “hill women” who raised and inspired her. With nuance and heart, Chambers uses these women’s stories paired with her own journey to break down the myth of the hillbilly and illuminate a region whose poor community members, especially women, can lead it into the future.

At 6:30 p.m., the symposium closes with “Dinner on the Grounds: Women Driving Change” with Sparky and Rhonda Rucker and Michael and Carrie Kline in an event to celebrate women and social activism.

Saturday’s events feature two music stages with performances on the Compton Stage by Bear Hill Bluegrass, Meadow Run, Marv Ashby and High Octane, Ken and Brad Kolodner, The Kevin Prater Band, Devil in the Mill, Hickory Bottom Band, Jocelyn Pettit and Ellen Gira, Critton Hollow Band and Day Old News.

Performers on the Thomas Automotive Stage include Jay Smar; Time Travelers; Dakota Karper and Pete Hobbie; Davis Bradley Duo; Don DePoy and Martha Hills; Jeff and Myles Thomas; Amy Lough, Anne Lough and Amanda Barger; Loretta Hummel and Paul Dix; The Famous International Hillbilly Singin’ Stars; Black Guy Fawkes; Gilbert Lee and the Ghost on the Radio; and Old Towne Strings.

Additional performance areas include Chapel Happenings Outdoors with music by the Frostburg Arion Band, Sparky and Rhonda Rucker, and Michael and Carrie Kline; Appalachian Storytelling with Jo Ann Dadisman, Mikalena Zuckett, Judi Tarowsky, Ilene Evans, and Otto and Katie Ross; and a Southeastern Intertribal Singing workshop with Capstone Concert performer Martha Redbone.

The Family Stage provides something for children of all ages and features interactive performances by The Imagineers, as well as a jug band with Slim Harrison and the Sunnyland Band. There will also be an interactive family activity sponsored by the Allegany County Women’s Action Coalition where everyone can paint a rock and learn about the Equal Rights Amendment. In addition, students and teachers from the folk music school The Cat and The Fiddle will share some of the music they have learned or taught. Finally, in a showcase and community dance, the Barnstormers and RockCandy Cloggers will perform, then demonstrate, then teach audience members how to dance.

Hands-on workshops and presentations can be found in the Folkways Tent, which offers workshops on Appalachian dance and the mountain dulcimer. In “Folkways and Traditions of Plant Medicine in Appalachia,” samples of a variety of local plants will be shared, as well as identification and growing tips. Sparky and Rhonda Rucker will perform songs about traditions old and new, and a panel of members from three Appalachian acts will discuss folk punk. (On Saturday night, Clatter, in Frostburg, will host a Punk Show with doors opening at 9 p.m.)

The Explorations Tent offers updates on The Brownsville Project, an African American community displaced by the expansion of Frostburg College (FSU). Local panelists involved in researching women’s history will present a workshop about the challenges and joys of citizen research. Participants can also learn about one of the most charismatic pollinators, the monarch butterfly, in “Scales to Tails,” meet some of the other-than-human neighbors who live in the Appalachians in a Nature Conservancy session, learn how to encourage pollinators from beekeeper Ben Cooper or learn about pioneering woman Rebecca Bryan Boone, the wife of frontiersman and explorer Daniel Boone.

A wide variety of artisans will be on site to demonstrate local traditions, including tatting, pottery, folk art, steampunk and industrial arts, rug hooking, jewelry making, knitting, basket weaving, music, crocheted items, woven pot holders, stained glass, leather goods, slate paintings, charcoal prints, note cards, watercolors, woodcraft and beaded jewelry, custom-made furniture, herbs and flower arrangements, quilted cards and quilts, hemp products and books.

Community groups and organizations and other individuals on the grounds include the Nettle Patch, local author Ben Cooper, the Western Maryland Chapter of the Archeological Society, the Frostburg Museum Association, The Brownsville Project and Frostburg First, the Appalachian Laboratory, The Nature Conservancy, Choose Civility, the Evergreen Heritage Center, the Jane Gates Heritage House, a listening booth on the push and pull of Appalachia, the Maryland Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation, Allegany and Garrett Counties’ Bird Club, Vote Equality, the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, the Women’s Action Coalition of Greater Allegany County and the Mountain Maryland Alliance for Reproductive Freedom.

The festival and its programming are supported in part by the Maryland Traditions Program of the Maryland State Arts Council, FSU, 91.9 WFWM, FSU’s Cultural Events Series, the FSU Foundation, the city of Frostburg, FrostburgFirst, Thomas Automotive, Weis Market and Friends Aware.

For more information, visit the Appalachian Festival website.