88th Annual Mountain Dance and Folk Festival returns Aug. 6-8

The Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, the country’s longest running folk festival, now in its 88th year of highlighting mountain culture, returns this summer for three full evenings: Thursday, Friday and Saturday, August 6, 7 and 8 at the Diana Wortham Theatre in downtown Asheville. Tickets are on sale now.

With introductions beginning at 6:50 p.m. and the show beginning at 7:00 p.m. nightly, the festival formally showcases an amazing repertoire of the cream-of-the-crop of our region's 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 6 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.

Also as a special offer for the first night of the festival, anyone who purchases a 2015 Shindig t-shirt at the Shindig on the Green during July will receive a special offer of two $5 coupons, each of which may be applied toward the purchase of a $22 Adult ticket for the Thursday, August 6th Mountain Dance and Folk Festival.

Audiences at each of the three performances will see an extensive line-up of the best musicians, ballad singers and dancers; each evening features at least four dance teams from the very young to the young at heart. The popular and long-standing house band, the Stoney Creek Boys, returns to perform each evening. And each night of the festival features both well-known musicians and new talent alike, representative of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and its continuing traditions.

2015 Mountain Dance and Folk Festival Performance Schedule
(a/o 7/10/15. Line-up subject to change. Check www.dwtheatre.com for updated line-up.)

Thursday, August 6: Carol Rifkin and Jerry Sutton, Masters of Ceremonies; Introduction by Ed Herron; Grey Eagle (Stoney Creek Boys with buck dancers); Dance Team: Fines Creek Cloggers; Betty Smith; Buncombe Turnpike; Roger Howell and Friends; Sons of Ralph; Don Pedi; Dance Team: Folk Heritage Smooth Dancers; Dance Team: Stoney Creek Cloggers; Carol Rifkin, Jeanette Queen & John Fowler; The Peg Twisters; Spirit Fiddle; Dance Team: Green Valley Cloggers; Clearwater Connection; Dance Team: J Creek Cloggers; Whitewater Bluegrass Company.

Friday, August 7: Laura Boosinger and Kevin Hamlin, Masters of Ceremonies; Introduction by Ed Herron; Grey Eagle (Stoney Creek Boys with buck dancers); Dance Team: Cole Mountain Cloggers; Richard Hurley; Spirit Fiddle; Appalachian Consort; Joe Penland; Dance Team: Dixie Darlins Cloggers; Denise O’Sullivan; Bobby Hicks; Maggie Lauterer and Zack Allen; Gabriel’s Creek; Dance Team: Appalachian Mountaineers Cloggers; Laura Boosinger; The Buckner Family; Dance Team: Blue Ridge Heritage Cloggers; New Broad River Band.

Saturday, August 8: Glenn Bannerman and Richard Hurley, Masters of Ceremonies; Introduction by Ed Herron; Grey Eagle (Stoney Creek Boys with buck dancers); Dance Team: Mountain Tradition Cloggers; The Ross Brothers; Bryce Parham and Kathryn Brickey; Dance Team: Bailey Mountain Smooth Dancers; Phil and Gaye Johnson; Crooked Pine; Dance Team: Bannerman Family and Friends; Dance Team: Southern Mountain Fire Cloggers; The Griggs; Southern Highlanders; Bobby Anderson and Blue Ridge Tradition; The Trantham Family; Dance Team: Bailey Mountain Cloggers; The Waymasters; Spirit Fiddle; 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.

The Mountain Dance and Folk Festival is presented by Asheville’s Folk Heritage Committee which also produces its sister event, the 49th Annual Shindig on the Green, a free gathering held each year at Pack Square Park on the Bascom Lamar Lunsford stage, with a stage show and informal jam sessions on Saturday evenings – June 27; July 11, 18, 25; August 15, 22, 29; and September 5. Both events rely on the generosity and shared talent of the region’s finest old-time musicians and mountain dancers, as well as the all-volunteer Folk Heritage Committee and corporate and individual donors.

Raffle: The much-sought-after annual raffle items for the 2015 Shindig season are: a historic dulcimer handcrafted by celebrated Western North Carolina woodworker, James David Sams, mounted in a beautiful display frame by Blackbird Frame & Art and accompanied by an antique turkey quill used by renowned balladeer and dulcimer player, Virgil Sturgill – both dulcimer and quill may be removed for playing – valued at $1,500; and a 66” x 86” handmade twin-size quilt, featuring Sheepfold blocks set on point in a variety of red and cream fabrics and finished with heirloom-quality machine quilting, created by local quilting collaborative, Mountain Jam Circle – valued at $850. Raffle tickets are available at each Mountain Dance and Folk Festival evening and all eight Shindig on the Green evenings, and the winning tickets are pulled during the final Shindig on the Green on Saturday, September 5.

Sponsors: The Folk Heritage Committee produces Shindig on the Green’s 49th Summer Season and the 88th Annual Mountain Dance and Folk Festival with support from the following Corporate Sponsors: Able Rent-A-John; Acoustic Corner; Acoustic Sound Production; Alan's Jewelry & Pawn; Americare Pharmacy Consultants; Asheville Citizen-Times; Atlanta Bread Company; Biltmore®; Brian C. Hunter, CPA, P.A.; Bruegger’s Bagels; City Bakery; CWS – Consolidated Waste Services; Deutsch & Gottschalk, PA; Elly Wells Marketing + Project Management; Fox Dental Associates; Graybeard Graphics; Greybeard Realty; Henco Reprographics; Lenoir-Rhyne University; Luella’s Bar-B-Que; Mast General Store; Mission Health; Mountain Jam Circle; Okie Dokies Smokehouse; Pack’s Tavern; Parsec Financial; RomanticAsheville.com Vacation Guide; Sam’s Club; Shay Brown Events; Skyland Auto Group; State Farm Insurance – Diane Bauknight; Telco Community Credit Union; The Fresh Market; Togar Rugs; Town Hardware & General Store; and Yesterday Spaces. Media Sponsors are: 880 AM The Revolution; 88.7 FM WNCW; 99.9 FM Kiss Country; The Laurel of Asheville; Mountain Xpress; News Radio 570 WWNC; Rapid River Magazine; Smoky Mountain Living; Smoky Mountain News; and WNC magazine. Ongoing support of Shindig on the Green is provided by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, the City of Asheville, and Buncombe County.

Ticket Information: Tickets (Regular $22; Children 12 and under $12; Groups of 10 or more $17 per person; 3-night package $54 for adults and $24 for children) for the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival are available from the Diana Wortham Theatre box office: (828) 257-4530 or online at www.dwtheatre.com/mountain-dance-and-folk-festival-2015.  For more information on the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival or Shindig on the Green, visit www.folkheritage.org or call the Folk Heritage Info Line: (828) 258-6101 x345.