Appalachian Festival: Saturday Events

FSU Campus and Palace Theatre

Appalachian Festival Returns to FSU Sept. 19 Through 21 With “Home in Appalachia”

Frostburg State University’s much-anticipated Appalachian Festival will return to campus for its 19th year Thursday, Sept. 19, to Saturday, Sept. 21. 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 “Home in Appalachia.”

The capstone event is a ticketed concert, “Appalatin,” presented in partnership with FSU’s Cultural Events Series in Frostburg’s historic Palace Theatre on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Appalatin’s foot-stomping, hip-swinging sound unites Appalachian folk and high-energy Latin music. The name Appalatin reflects the unexpected meeting of Kentucky-raised musicians and masterful Central American and Andean émigrés from Ecuador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. Their all-acoustic performances feature traditional guitar, mandolin and upright bass merged with charango, indigenous Andean flutes, hand percussion, harmonica and vocal harmonies. Tickets are $15 for adults and $13.50 for children and the military and can be purchased at the door or ordered at ces.frostburg.edu.

Saturday’s events feature two music stages with performances on the Compton Stage by Bear Hill Bluegrass, Marv Ashby and High Octane, Folk ’Em All Trio, Famous International Hillbilly Singin’ Stars, The Mount Clare Connection, The Baltimore Irish Music School, Black Diamond, Critton Hollow Band, The Kevin Prater Band, Buffalo Run and Day Old News.

Performers on the Sowers Stage include The Time Travelers, Pete Hobbie and Dakota Karper, Loretta Hummel and Paul Dix, Don DePoy and Martha Hills, Davis Bradley Duo, Casselman Valley Travelers, Jeff and Myles Thomas with Madalyn Higgins, Walt Michael, Sparky and Rhonda Rucker, Michael and Carrie Kline, and Gilbert Lee and the Ghost on the Radio.

Additional performance areas include Chapel Happenings Outdoors with music by the Frostburg Arion Band, Mary Hott and Jay Smar; Appalachian Storytelling with Jo Ann Dadisman, Mikalena Zuckett, Judi Tarowsky, James Froemel and Otto and Katie Ross; and a canjo workshop with Jim Morris.

The Family Stage provides something for children of all ages and features interactive performances by The Song Imagineers, a presentation by Magpie as well as a jug band with Slim Harrison and the Sunnyland Band. 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, Slim Harrison, of the Barnstormers and RockCandy Cloggers, will demonstrate the jaw harp and mouthbow and teach participants how to play a tune on their cheeks.

Hands-on workshops and presentations can be found in the Folkways Tent. Sparky and Rhonda Rucker will perform songs about traditions old and new, and Madalyn Higgins will cover the basics of Irish step dance and céilí dance. You can also explore Central American and Appalachian folk song traditions with Nicaraguan folk musician Marlon Obando and Eastern Kentucky-based singer/songwriter Yani Vozos and join Ecuadorian master luthier and musician Fernando Moya to explore the history and culture of Andean music. Michael and Carrie Kline will present their music as entertainment and social history, and a panel will discuss traditional instruments and traditional forms of music in punk music. (On Saturday night, The Deep End in Frostburg will host a punk show with The Bastard Bearded Irishmen after the festival’s capstone concert.)

The Explorations Tent offers a session on some of the other-than-human neighbors in the Appalachians, a presentation about Romani in Appalachia, updates on The Brownsville Project, traditions of plant medicine in Appalachia, an introduction to the historical Chautauqua movement and its recent local revival through the Victorian Chautauqua Festival held in Garrett County, and a presentation about the Cumberland Bone Cave, a treasure trove of fossils from the Pleistocene era.

The Jam Tent will also be open throughout the day! Grab a few musicians and sit and jam, or check out The Hammered Dulcimer With Walt Michael or the Bluegrass Jam.

A wide variety of artisans will be on site to demonstrate local traditions, including tatting, pottery, folk art, steampunk, jewelry making, knitting, basket making, music, crocheted items, woven pot holders, leather goods, charcoal prints, note cards, watercolors, woodcraft and beaded jewelry, custom-made furniture, quilted cards and quilts, hemp products, books, custom-painted fishing lures, taxidermy, soaps, prints, all-natural supplements and dolls.

Community groups and organizations and other individuals on the grounds include the Nettle Patch, 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, the Maryland Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation, Allegany and Garrett Counties’ Bird Club, the Women’s Action Coalition of Greater Allegany County, the Mountain Maryland Alliance for Reproductive Freedom, the Women’s Health Center of Maryland, the Regional Media Center, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Greater Cumberland, Split Acres Maple, the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area and the Center for Regional Engagement and Economic Development.

The Capering Kids 4-H Goat Club will return again to host a “goat-painting” area where children can exercise their creative flair by painting goat-shaped silhouettes. The group will bring goats and offer milking demonstrations throughout the day, and soaps made from goat’s milk will be available for purchase.

The festival and its programming are sponsored by the Cultural Events Series, 91.9 WFWM, the city of Frostburg, the Maryland Traditions Program of the Maryland State Arts Council, Frostburg State University, the FSU Foundation, FrostburgFirst, Weis Market and Friends Aware.

For more information, visit the festival’s website at www.frostburg.edu/events/afestival.

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