Virginia Higlands Festival To Feature Arts, Antiques, Crafts, Music And More

ABINGDON, Va. – Come Friday, the biggest annual party in Abingdon will begin again.
The two-week-long Virginia Highlands Festival – celebrating all that is great about this colonial-era town – kicks off with a variety of shows, exhibits, craft demonstrations and more.
Daily events start on July 25 with shows at the Barter Theatre, basket-making demonstrations and a concert starring the Dixie Bee-Liners, plus the “Music of Coal” at the Event Tent on the Barter Green.
“We have something for everyone,” said festival spokeswoman Priscilla Miller.
Year to year, Miller said, the festival strives to balance a mix of popular favorite items with new material. This year, as well, Miller said, “We tried to make it more appealing to the locals.”
That, in turn, follows a “staycation” tourism trend. With gas prices at all-time highs, festival organizers are finding their main market must now be people not five hours away, but within a two-hour radius of town, Miller said.
Many visitors to events in Abingdon, Miller said, are coming from Roanoke or simply the Tri-Cities area. “People are trying to do things that are close to home.”
Last year’s attendance records posted 170,000 visitors in town, Miller said.
“A lot of people view the festival as real artsy,” she said. “Most people when they think of the Highlands Festival, they think of arts and crafts and antiques.”
Certainly, there is a lot of art here, Miller said.
Held on the campus of Virginia Highlands Community College, the antique market has attracted vendors from as far away as Texas. Meanwhile, the arts and crafts range from painters and potters to self-published authors and instrument makers on the Barter Green.
Exhibits include “A Century of Furniture: The Rose Cabinet Shops” at the William King Regional Arts Center.
You can also find Abingdon’s “Haint Mistress,” Donnamarie Emmert, leading spirited ghost walks through town during the festival’s two-week run.
“There’s a lot of different things to do,” Miller said. “We have things for all different ages and for people from all walks of life.”
Annually, Miller said, the festival focuses on youth activities.
This year, expect to find a big block party when Chubby Checker performs at the festival on July 26, as Main Street is set to be blocked off from the Abingdon Post Office to Cummings Street.
Various festival activities also include a performance by magician Joseph Young, an appearance by Ronald McDonald and a donut hole eating contest (Aug. 9, 10 a.m.) in the Youth Tent.
New this year is the Colonial Trade Fair, held on Colonial Road, a site on the Overmountain Victory Trail. Expect to find participants like Andy Thomas, a well-known Tennessee gunsmith, to be wearing colonial-era clothes.
The Colonial Trade Fair is being held Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays from 1-6 p.m. throughout the run of the festival. The fair also features members of local history-oriented groups delivering presentations on “Living in the Backcountry” in the 1780s on July 31, Aug. 1-3 and Aug. 7-10 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“I think it will be like a miniature Williamsburg,” Miller said. “We’ve never done it before.”
This year, too, Miller said, the festival’s expanded focus – for its 60th year – works well with the birthday celebration of Barter Theatre, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

IF YOU GO
What: Virginia Highlands Festival
When: July 25 to Aug. 10
Where: Abingdon and surrounding communities
Details: Pick up a copy of “The Highlander” at various local businesses for full details of the Virginia Highlands Festival schedule
Info: (276) 623-5266
Web: http://www.vahighlandsfestival.org

A FEW HIGHLIGHTS OF THE HIGHLANDS FESTIVAL

HOME & GARDEN
Events include cooking class (Aug. 5) at Glenrochie Country Club; Garden Décor Workshops (Aug. 7); and kitchen tours (July 31, 5-8:30 p.m., and Aug. 1, 12-4 p.m.).

CREATIVE WRITING DAY
Event held at the Martha Washington Inn Ballroom on July 28, starting at 8:30 a.m., featuring Ron Rash (“Chemistry”); Bill Brown (“Late Winter”); Richard Rose (artistic director for the Barter Theatre) and Catherine Bush (“The Other Side of the Mountain”). Book signings and workshops are included on such topics as “Creating Tension in Poetry” and “The Art of Writing for the Theater.”

LECTURES
“Your Ecological Footprint,” July 28, 10 a.m.-noon, Department of Environmental Quality office; “History of the E&H Presidency,” Robert Vejnar, July 28, 6:30 p.m., Abingdon United Methodist Church; “Collecting and Conserving Cherished Keepsakes,” Robert Weisfeld, July 28, 7:30 p.m., Star Museum.
“Wildflowers of Southwest Virginia,” C.W. Greever, July 29, 7 p.m., Abingdon United Methodist Church; “Outdoor Leadership,” Jim Harrison, July 30, 6:30 p.m., Abingdon United Methodist Church; “19th Century Furniture,” Betsy White and Ken Farmer, July 30, 7-9 p.m., William King Regional Arts Center.
“CSI meets DNA: The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Genome,” Christy Fleet, Aug. 4, 6:30 p.m., Abingdon United Methodist Church; “Fly Fishing Opportunities: Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee,” Bruce Wankel, Aug. 4, 6:30-8 p.m., Washington County Public Library; “From Cumberland Gap to the Chesapeake: Legends and Landmarks of Virginia,” Kathy Shearer and Joe Tennis, Aug. 5, noon at Zazzy’z Bookstore, and Aug. 7, 7 p.m., at Abingdon United Methodist Church.
“Costa Rica: A Living Classroom,” Gregory J. McConnell, Aug. 7, 6:30 p.m., Abingdon United Methodist Church; “Boats on the North Fork,” Dan Kegley, Aug. 10, 2-4 p.m., Museum of the Middle Appalachians in Saltville.

TOURS AND FIELD TRIPS
Historic White’s Mill, daily, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Historic Parks Mill, daily, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Fields-Penn 1860 House Museum, daily, noon-4 p.m..
Strolling Through Sinking Spring Cemetery, July 26 and Aug. 2, 10-11:30 a.m.; Duncansville: One-Room School Museum, Saturdays and Mondays, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sundays, 1:30-5:30 p.m.; Civil War Era Garden Tour: “For Use & For Delight,” July 27, 3 p.m. at Fields-Penn House.
Historical Society of Washington County Library & Railway Station, Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Museum of the Middle Appalachians, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. (tours).
Walking Tour of Historic Abingdon, July 30 and Aug. 6, 9:30-11 a.m.; Norfolk & Western Steam Locomotive, Class M, #433, Aug. 3, 1:30-5 p.m.

FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES
Losing Your Marbles at Fields-Penn House, Aug. 2-3, 1-3 p.m.; Unveiling Ceremony: Black’s Fort Sign Dedication, Aug. 3, 2-3:30 p.m.; Skipping Through History with Capt. Joseph Black & Friends: A Kid’s Stroll Into Abingdon’s Past, Aug. 3, 3-4 p.m.; Playground of the Past, Aug. 3, 3-5 p.m. at Fields-Penn House.

OUTDOOR TRIPS
Creeper Trail Bird Walk, July 26, 7:30 a.m.; Appalachian Trail Hike to Mount Rogers, July 26, 9 a.m.; A Taste of Agriculture Organic Farm Tour, July 27, 2-4:30 p.m.; Hike the Little Stony Creek Trail, July 28, 1-5 p.m.
Mountaintop Stargazing & Starlore, July 28, 11 p.m.; Wildflower Walk on Whitetop Mountain, July 31 and Aug. 7., 9:30 a.m.; Herpetofauna Hike on Creeper Trail, Aug. 1, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Tomato Fest, Aug. 2, 9 a.m.-noon; Flycasting Techniques and Demonstration, Aug. 5, 9:30 a.m.-noon; “Lawrence the Legend” Creeper Trail Ride, Aug. 2, 8 a.m.; Salamanders and Climate Change, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Hike at the Pinnacle Natural Area Preserve, Aug. 4, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Deep Space Viewing, Aug. 5, 8:30-10 p.m.; Stream and Wetland Restoration Site, Aug. 6, 1-3 p.m.
Photographing Whitetop Mountain and Grayson Highlands State Park, Aug. 7, 1-5 p.m.; Creeper Trail Night Ride, Aug. 9, 7-10:30 p.m.; Virginia Creeper Trail Stream Life Hike, Aug. 10, 6-8 p.m.

THERE’S MORE:
—Dixie Bee-Liners Will Start Highlands Festival Buzzing by Tom Netherland
—Abingdon Festival Pays Tribute to Celtic Music During Event by Tom Netherland