Townsend Celebrates Appalachian Heritage with Fall Festival

Vacationers and locals took a step back in time at the Townsend Fall Festival and Old Timers Day Sept. 29-30. The festival offered food, music, arts and crafts, educational demonstrations, storytelling, and childrens activities. More than 30 bluegrass bands performed plus hundreds of musicians who came to pick and play on the Townsend Visitors Center porch and throughout the festival grounds. Additionally, the history and heritage of the mountains came to life with events such as Appalachian demonstrations, which include cornmeal making, moonshine still (no sampling) and "rivin" shakes, chair caning, lye soap making, homespun toys, sorghum molasses making, a beehive observation, apple butter making and a blacksmith.

In conjunction with the special event, the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center hosted "Heritage Day" on Saturday, with the theme "Celebrate Days Gone By." The cabins and surrounding area at the Heritage Center were buzzing with activity such as demonstrations of open hearth cooking, churning, broom making, knitting, tanning, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, chair caning, woodcarving, basket making, beekeeping, paper flowers and scrub board laundry. Authentic Native American flute music and other sounds from the mountains were featured at the center as well.

Visitors at the Visitors Center could bid on themed baskets to raise money for Townsend Elementary School and participate in a cake walk and bake sale for Hearts and Hands Scholarship Fund to raise money that is awarded in scholarships for students pursuing higher education.

The festival took place on the grounds of the Townsend Visitors Center and at the Heritage Center.

Darrell Watkins visited the Heritage Center and took these photos for Blount Today.