Blue Ridge Country - March/April 2018 - 25

MAY
So it's spring. Are you hungry? Then
Savor Blowing Rock (savorblowingrock.com) during a four-day festival at Blowing Rock, North Carolina, celebrating food and drink with
classes, tastings and seminars on
May 3-6.
Want to see Dolly Parton? Then
plan to attend Dolly's Homecoming Parade on May 4 in Pigeon
Forge, Tennessee (mypigeonforge.
com) to catch a glimpse of the legendary entertainer.
You can check out Townsend's
Spring Festival & Old Timers
Day on May 4-5, featuring Appalachian history and crafts, bluegrass
music, wildflower walks, storytelling,
clogging, book signings and bake
sales in the Great Smoky Mountains
of Tennessee (smokymountains.org).
Then go to the nearby Nawger Nob
Arts & Crafts Festival in Tennessee on May 5-6 (smokymountains.org).
You can also sample the Community School Strawberry Festival in Roanoke, Virginia, on May
4-5 (strawberryfestivalroanoke.org) or
check out the Spring Festival at
Lavonia, Georgia, on May 5 with
nearly 100 vendors offering arts and

crafts (lavoniachamber.org).
Look for the Festival of Spring
in downtown Luray, Virginia on
May 5 (townofluray.com). On the
same day, the Budbreak Wine
and Craft Beer Festival showcases Yadkin Valley wines and their
makers in downtown Mount Airy,
North Carolina, along with craft
beer producers, chefs and musicians
(budbreakfestival.com).
Wilderness Wildlife Week in
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, features
a feast of lectures, workshops, concerts, hikes and music on May 8-12
(mypigeonforge.com).
For beer: Come to Kingsport,
Tennessee, on May 19 for Racks
by the Tracks, featuring barbeque,
music, wine tastings and more than
55 craft beers (racksbythetracks.com).
And head to the Yadkin Valley
Wine Festival on May 19 in Elkin,
North Carolina, for all kinds of wine
(yvwf.com).
Art takes center stage in downtown Greenville, South Carolina,
during the annual Artisphere Festival, May 11-13. This event features fine art, music and food (artisphere.org). A similar opportunity to
meet artists comes up on May 26-27
with the Arts in the Park with
more than 200 booths of arts, crafts

and food at Blue Ridge, Georgia (blueridgemountains.com).
Come hungry to East Tennessee.
You'll find the largest event of the
year in Sevierville with Bloomin'
BBQ & Bluegrass (bloominbbq.
com) on May 18-19, featuring the
Tennessee State Championship Barbeque Cook-Off plus free bluegrass
concerts and kids games. Nearby,
the International Biscuit Festival celebrates all things biscuit
(biscuitfest.com) in Knoxville, Tennessee, on May 19, with a breakfast
and brunch plus a Biscuit Bazaar
and even a Biscuit Boulevard!
Dollywood celebrates Barbeque
& Bluegrass on May 25-June 10,
with mountain music from acts like
Rhonda Vincent & The Rage plus
saucy pulled-pork and ribs by the
slab at the theme park in Pigeon
Forge, Tennessee (dollywood.com).
The Smoky Mountain Scottish Festival and Games is being
held on May 19-20 in Maryville, Tennessee (smokymountaingames.org).
About 20,000 trail hikers are expected to roll into Damascus, Virginia, on May 18-20, during the
Appalachian Trail Days festival
(traildays.us). Then, nearby, the remote village of Whitetop, Virginia,
hosts the Ramp Festival on May

Look for
the Cider
Wine & Dine
Weekend on
April 20-22 in
Hendersonville, North
Carolina (below left). The
Lewisburg,
West Virginia
Chocolate
Festival
(below) takes
place on April
14.

connie manchester

March/April 2018 25

http://www.lavoniachamber.org http://www.blueridgemountains.com http://www.townofluray.com http://www.savorblowingrock.com http://www.savorblowingrock.com http://www.budbreakfestival.com http://www.biscuitfest.com http://www.mypigeonforge.com http://www.mypigeonforge.com http://www.racksbythetracks.com http://www.dollywood.com http://www.smokymountains.org http://www.yvwf.com http://www.smokymountains.org http://www.smokymountaingames.org http://www.strawberryfestivalroanoke.org http://www.sphere.org http://www.traildays.us

Blue Ridge Country - March/April 2018

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