Liz Zlot Summerfield pottery Spruce Pine Potters Market Sugar Mountain Oktoberfest
Brushy Mountain Apple Festival Photo by Carmen Jezierski
Regional Happenings & Featured Events
Major Festivals
West Jefferson Olde Time Antiques Fair – On September 17 and 18, the West Jefferson Olde Time Antiques Fair will take place in West Jefferson along the beautiful streetscapes in Ashe County, NC. Numerous antique vendors set up during this fair and you’ll find a variety of items including vintage furniture, coins, glassware, quilts, refurbished antiques, pottery, silver, vintage signage and much more! Live music and food vendors are onsite, and the Hotel Tavern restaurant and the award-winning Boondocks Brewery are within the fair area. https://wjantiquesfair.com/ Brushy Mountain Apple Festival – On Saturday, October 2, the streets of downtown North Wilkesboro, NC, will be filled with over 425 arts and crafts vendors, 100 food concessions, and four different music stages consisting of Blue Grass, Country, Folk, Gospel, and Appalachian Heritage. Cloggers, folk dancers, rope skippers, and square dancers provide additional entertainment for festival goers. Appalachian Heritage crafts are highlighted such as woodcarving, chair making, soap making, pottery throwing, and quilting. Let us not forget the apples, apples, and more apples! Local apple growers set up throughout the festival selling their apples, apple cider, and dried apples. After all, this festival also pays tribute to the fruit grown and harvested each fall by apple orchardists from northwestern NC. http://www.applefestival.net/
Sugar Mountain Oktoberfest – On October 9 and 10, 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., prepare for yodels and yodels of fun at Sugar Mountain’s annual Oktoberfest celebration! The festival features Bavarian music performed by the 15-piece Harbour
20 — Autumn 2021 CAROLINA MOUNTAIN LIFE
Towne Fest Band. Additional entertainment will be provided throughout the weekend, and German and American food will be plentiful. And of course, the beer will be flowing! Browse arts and crafts from local artists with a big variety of items from food to ironworks. A Kids fun center (admission required) operates 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. both days. Some of the children’s activities include fun time inflatables, hay rides, corn hole, a water balloon toss, and pumpkin bowling. And don’t miss the popular costume contest on Saturday at 4 p.m. (free to enter). Oktoberfest will be held rain or shine, and admission, parking and shuttle service are all free. https://seesugar.com/oktoberfest/ Woolly Worm Festival – On October 16 and 17 in Banner Elk, NC, one of the Southeast’s most popular festivals returns! Join festival attendees from near and far for the 44th annual Woolly Worm Festival. This “official woolly worm festival of N.C.” offers two full days of fun with fuzzy caterpillars and much, much more. See our feature article on “Famous Festivals” on page 25. www.woollyworm.com Valle Country Fair – On Saturday, October 16 in Valle Crucis, NC, bring a carload of friends and family to experience food, crafts, mountain music, and loads of family fun. Take home fresh baked goods, homemade jams and jellies, and apple butter made while you watch. See our feature article on “Famous Festivals” on page 24. www.vallecountryfair.org
Additional coverage on our local fall festivals that include live music can be found in our “Where the Music Is” listings.
Art Events
Blowing Rock Art in the Park – If you love perusing art in the great outdoors, don’t miss the final 2021 Art in the Park event on Saturday, October 2, from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Enjoy arts and crafts from award-winning and acclaimed artisans. Artists are juryselected and each show features a different set of artists, curated to present a wide variety of mediums. Find gifts and works for personal collections, functional beauties like furniture and cutlery, and wearable art like handcrafted jewelry and textiles. While in Blowing Rock, head down the street and visit BRAHM (Blowing Rock Art and History Museum) to view its latest worldclass exhibition, Emergent Landscapes: Mountains, Music, & Improvisation in the Paintings of Abie Harris. www.blowingrock. com, www.blowingrockmuseum.org Blue Ridge Craft Trails – If arts and crafts are your main interest when it comes to destination travel, you are undeniably in a region rich in craft traditions. Travel along the Blue Ridge Craft Trails to visit with artists in their studios, shop galleries full of local, handmade artwork, and discover scenic treasures and cultural gems along the way. The Blue Ridge Craft Trails organizers welcome new Trail sites regularly, with plans to add an estimated 200 craft artists, galleries and sites to the Trails over the next year. Here are just some of our favorite Trail stops in the CML region: Crossnore Weavers and Gallery in Crossnore; BE Artists Gallery at the Historic Banner Elk School Cultural Arts Center; the Avery County Quilt Trail beginning at the Beech Mountain Visitor Center; Blue Ridge ArtSpace, Hands Gallery, and Doe Ridge Pottery Gallery in Boone; Blowing Rock Art and History Museum in downtown Blowing Rock; the Florence Thomas Art School, and the Ashe County Arts Council and Arts Center in
