16th Annual Franklin Area Folk Festival
“A Celebration of Appalachian Heritage” in Franklin, NC
Saturday, August 20, 2022
About the Franklin Area Folk Festival
Come to the mountains of Western North Carolina and discover the Franklin Area Folk Festival! Our mission is to preserve and educate about the rich heritage of Franklin, NC and Macon County. The festival will take place on Saturday, August 20, 2022.
The 16th Annual Franklin Area Folk Festival, “A Celebration of Appalachian Heritage” will be held from 10 am to 4 pm at Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center. Nestled in Cowee West’s Mill Historic District at 51 Cowee School Drive in Franklin, NC, the Center is a unique showcase for demonstrating the everyday skills, crafts and music of our ancestors. And it is a FREE event!
What can you expect?
Celebrating all things Appalachian, this family-friendly festival features live heritage demonstrations, Appalachian crafts, SEBA (SouthEastern Bluegrass Association) jammin’ sessions that feature old-time mountain music and bluegrass, Civil War Re-enactors/Camp, kids’ activities, food, textiles& more! Artisans inside Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center will exhibit Macon County’s rich heritage by teaching us about pottery, textiles, painting, and local history. By linking our future to our past, the Franklin Area Folk Festival sponsors hands-on activities to allow visitors to experience what mountain life was like way back when. These folks learned at their parents’ knee woodcarving, moonshinin’, weaving and spinning, and all the many other heritage skills they’ll be demonstrating.
Some additional highlights include special quilts on display (like the famous Cabarras Quilt, The Celebrate America Autograph Quilt, the original World’s Largest Quilt), the village blacksmith, flint napping, woodworking / woodcarving, Border Collies’ demonstrations, old-time music and more. Performances of mountain music, gospel and bluegrass tunes exemplify a very important cultural heritage of the Appalachian region. In addition to performance stages inside and outside, we are partnering with SEBA and the Old Time Music group to provide jammin’ sessions. Festival-goers are encouraged to bring their instruments and join in! Once known as the Quilting Capital of the World, displays from the Smoky Mountain Quilter’s Guild including kids’ make-it / take-it project and the Cowee Quilters will help showcase this important heritage. Also, Grandpa’s Woodshop will feature wooden toys with Mike Holden and bluebird houses with Paul Chew.
Come learn about the culture and folkways of our Southern Appalachian Mountains by engaging in one of the many living history experiences, a trademark of the Franklin Area Folk Festival, “A Celebration of Appalachian Heritage.”
This FREE event is co-sponsored annually by the Folk Heritage Association of Macon County and the Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center with support from Cowee Community Development Organization, Rickman’s Store, The Scottish Tartan Museum, Macon County Historical Museum, Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce, Blue Ridge Heritage Music Trail/SEBA and others. The festival is made possible by a grant from the Franklin/Nantahala Tourism Development Committee, the Tourism Development Authority of the Town of Franklin and the Macon County Arts Council along with funding from local businesses and individuals.
For more information call (828) 524-6564.
For more information visit Franklin Folk Festival
