In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Festival, the Ramsey Center has planned a whole week of events and festivities.
From a dance demonstration to a talk by noted scholar of Appalachia David Whisnant, there’s something for everyone.
Bascom Lamar Lunsford was born on the campus of Mars Hill College in 1882. His father was a professor at the college and his mother was a house mother in one of the college dormitories. A musician from childhood, Lunsford spent much of his life using his eclectic professional pursuits (fruit tree salesman, bee peddler, lawyer) to visit with people in the mountains and collect fiddle tunes, dances, and folksongs from them.
In 1928, Lunsford presented a program of folk music and dance at the Asheville Chamber of Commerce’s Rhododendron Festival. This program eventually became its own event, with the first Mountain Dance and Folk Festival opening in 1930. In 1967, Lunsford and pharmacist Ed Howard began the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Festival on the Mars Hill campus in order to celebrate the folk music traditions of Appalachian North Carolina.
The 2017 festival will take place over two days. There will be a seated, ticketed concert on Friday, October 6 at 7:00 p.m. in Moore Auditorium. (Tickets are free for Mars Hill University faculty, retired faculty, staff, and students.) The concert will feature a full roster of performers, including Whitewater Bluegrass Co., Roger Howell, and Rhiannon and the Relics.
The evening will also include a chance to hear, for the very first time, Lunsford’s very own, newly-restored fiddle and the fiddle of Fiddlin’ Bill Hensley (1873-1960), a frequent performer at Lunsford’s festivals. The evening will also feature the presentation of the Lunsford Award to clogger Jeff Atkins. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit www.lunsfordfestival.com or phone 828-689-1115.
On Saturday, October 7, there will be a free, all-day event (10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.) that will feature a wonderful lineup of musicians and dancers, the annual Ballad Swap (1:30-3:30 p.m.), as well as vendors, refreshments, and crafts on the beautiful Upper Quad of the Mars Hill University Campus.
