Folk Arts Festival Shares Appalachian Ways, More

BIG STONE GAP, Va.—Tradition matters. Yet if left untended, even the most cherished of traditions can whither and die as time passes by.
Enter the Appalachian Folk Arts Festival. Scheduled for Aug. 23 at Southwest Virginia Museum in Big Stone Gap, Va., the festival will feature a number of demonstrations of long-practiced Appalachian traditions such as basket making, quilting and beekeeping.
Gary Carroll of Jonesville, Va., said he started making baskets per Appalachian traditions about four years ago. Now, he helps others to learn, too, as he will be doing at the festival while dressed much as a man from the 18th century would.
“You can’t teach somebody how to make a basket in three to four hours,” Carroll said, “but I’ll have the material out there and let people do what they would like to do to learn.”
That’s the point of the festival, said Erin Brockmann, education director for Southwest Virginia Museum.
“We’ll have seven different demonstrators along with staff as well,” Brockmann said. “We’ll have a hands-on section for kids to try things out for themselves.”
Consequently, people with roots in the region can reconnect, while folks from beyond can learn about a culture other than their own.
“In the technological age, some of these skills are being lost with the younger generation,” Brockmann said. “But people can stop in and watch the craftsmen, ask them how to do the craft and find out how they can get started.”
If interested in basket making, Carroll said, be ready for hours aplenty devoted to the making of a lone basket. He’s made them as small as two inches in diameter up to three-quarters of a bushel-sized baskets.
“It takes about 10 to 20 full hours to make one,” the retired Verizon employee said. “You can put color into them, make them different sizes – pretty much whatever you want. There’s no limit.”
The same could be said of the region’s forefathers and mothers, that there was no limit to their creativity.
“I think it’s a testimony to the creativity and resourcefulness of the people of the region and how tradition is important,” Brockmann said. “It pays homage to what our ancestors endured when this was the frontier.”
Carroll incorporates traditions relative to the 18th century into his appearances. Attendees can look forward to seeing him dressed in period clothing, right down to the eyeglasses he wears, and using tools from the era while making baskets in keeping with generations long gone by.
“I tie it in with the 18th century,” Carroll said. “I try to keep it the old way. There’s probably only two or three people around here who make baskets this way.”
So come, watch and with some desire and effort, attendees may well learn how to resume ways long ago established by their ancestors.
“It can help revive their own family traditions,” Brockmann said. “I have been looking forward to this, and I don’t think I’m alone in that. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

IF YOU GO
What: Appalachian Folk Arts Festival
When: Aug. 23, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Southwest Virginia Museum, Rt. 23, Big Stone Gap, Va.
Admission: free
Info: (276) 523-1322
Web: http://www.swvamuseum.org
Also: http://www.roundthemountain.org

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .