The Lunsford Festival is an all-day festival celebrating regional music and dance traditions. The event is the second longest-running folk festival in Western North Carolina and was named in honor of Bascom Lamar Lunsford, who was a musician and folklorist who dedicated his life to collecting and promoting the music of the Southern Appalachians.
The festival brings out the region’s finest musicians, ballad singers, and dancers and it happens on the same day as the Madison Heritage Arts Festival, so Mars Hill is abuzz.
Join us in honoring the rich cultural traditions of the Southern Appalachians!
This year, we’ll be kicking off the festival on the Mars Hill campus in Moore Auditorium on Friday evening with the annual Ballad Swap, hosted by Sheila Kay Adams and Donna Ray Norton, from 7:00PM – 9:00PM.
Then, on Saturday, due to construction on campus, we’ll hold our outdoor festival on the soccer fields between the elementary school and the Dr. W. Otis Duck Memorial Greenway. Which is just a few minutes away from the Mars Hill University campus (bring your favorite camping chair or picnic blanket).
Friday, October 4 – Ballad Swap at Moore Auditorium w/Sheila Kay Adams & Donna Ray Norton – 7:00PM – 9:00PM
Saturday, October 5 – Bascom Lamar Lunsford Festival – 10:00AM – 4:00 PM
For more information, please contact Leila Weinstein at (828) 689-1115 or lweinstein@mhu.edu.
The Ramsey Center is a proud site on the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina.
Visit the Down The Road on the Blue Ridge Music Trails Podcast Library to hear more about Bascom Lamar Lunsford and explore many bluegrass and old-time music stories, performers, and traditions across the mountain and foothills counties of Western North Carolina.
Morning Star UMC
