BC Hosts Appalachian Festival

Bluefield College hosted its Ninth Annual Appalachian Festival on Saturday, April 13, and despite inclement weather the event was well attended and a successful celebration.

Moved from the campus quad to inside Harman Chapel, the event still featured a host of local vendors who come to show off and sell their handmade and homemade products.

Back for the second year in a row, Coal Camp Creations displayed and sold unique coal figurines. The Happy Crafter, also the wife of Bluefield College economics professor Dr. Paul Bennett, has been crocheting for a year now, and this was her first time participating in the Appalachian Festival.

Among the food vendors was R&A Doughnut Express. Participating in the festival for two years now, R&A sold doughnuts, nachos, cotton candy, and fried apple delights. They created the fried apple delights last year, and since then they have been a big success. Another vendor, who has participated in the Appalachian Festival almost every year, sold kettle corn.

Kim Iverson, author from Wytheville, Virginia, who has been writing for 30 years, displayed and sold her books during the festival. She has been a published author for 20 years and has attended BC’s festival almost every year. Joining Iverson were other vendors who sold crafts, jewelry and other handmade items.

In addition to the food, books and crafts, the Appalachian Festival featured six hours of old-time music and entertainment. A BC student who attended the festival said he enjoyed the food, while a local lady attending the event for the first time said she enjoyed it all.

“This is my first year attending the festival, and I will definitely come back next year,” she said. “I really enjoyed the different vendors, the atmosphere, and the music.”

Established in the fall of 2011, Bluefield College’s annual Celebration of Appalachia began as a series of lectures, concerts, exhibits, discussions, movies, theatre, tours, festivals, and other educational and entertaining activities designed to honor the Appalachian heritage. The marquee event, the Appalachian Festival, began in the spring of 2012 to further celebrate the history, culture, people and traditions of Appalachia with music, art, crafts, cuisine, literature and discourse. Acknowledging the importance of coal to the region, the event became A Celebration of Appalachian Heritage and Coal Culture in the spring of 2017. All events are open to the community and are free. For more information, visit bluefield.edu/appalachia.

“I felt that the festival was a huge success,” said BC’s Charles Reese, a theatre professor and member of the Celebration of Appalachia planning committee. “We had to move inside due to the weather, but it was still a great day.”