Let the Virginia Highlands Festival Begin ...

ABINGDON, Va. – Get ready to party.
Abingdon’s two-week-long Virginia Highlands Festival kicks off July 25 with a mix of arts, antiques, outdoor activities, music and literary events.
And kids? You got kids?
Well, hey – this year, festival president Bob Trent says, the party will be bigger and better than ever for kids coming to Abingdon.
Among the highlights: Check out “Family Fun Day” on Aug. 1, starting at 11 a.m., at Latture Field, as the Bristol White Sox and their mascot, Dingbat, come to sign autographs while kids can bounce, slide, jump and play games across a variety of attractions. Sharky of Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies is swimming into town, as well.
You can also watch a movie, “Tales of Despereaux,” 9-11 p.m., on a super-large inflatable movie screen.
“Why is youth so important? Because it’s the festival’s future,” said Nikki Hicks, the co-chair of the festival’s youth series committee. “And everything we’re doing is absolutely free.”

ARTS & ANTIQUES
The Virginia Highlands Festival – Abingdon’s annual summer tradition - is well known for its antique sales, with 70 vendors coming this year to the market on the campus of the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, located just off I-81’s Exit 14.
“It’s not just local antique dealers,” said Susan Kimbrell, the chairman of the festival’s antiques committee. “The antique show is getting well known for people who do antique shows in Texas and California. And we have dealers coming here from all over the United States.”
Ken Farmer, of Radford, Va., one of the appraisers for PBS-TV’s “Antiques Roadshow,” is also coming to town on Aug. 4, 1-4 p.m., for a seminar at the antiques market.
Downtown, meanwhile, you’ll find the juried arts and crafts show – including work by fiber artists, painters, photographers and jewelry makers – on display at the Porterfield Square.
But, wait - where’s that?
Well, pay attention: Porterfield Square is the new name for the area at the center of Abingdon still commonly called either “Stonewall Square” (for being the site of the old Stonewall Jackson Institute) or “The Barter Green” (for its location, just across the street from the Barter Theatre).
The name “Porterfield” comes from Robert Porterfield (1905-1971), both the founder of the Barter Theatre and the Virginia Highlands Festival.
 
BOOKS, SHOWS & TOMATOES
Every Saturday, meanwhile, you’ll find demonstration of woodcarvings - plus book signings by local authors - on the front steps of the Cave House Craft Shop on Main Street.
Also, on July 27, the festival’s “Creative Writing Day” features seminars and lectures by a variety of authors, all held at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center. “Grizzly Park” creator Belle Avery is teaching “So You Want to Write a Screenplay” while Washington County News columnist Carl Clarke is joining other publishers in “A Panel on Publishing.”
Also on board, teaching a course on nature writing, is Radford University faculty member Rick Van Noy, author of “A Natural Sense of Wonder: Connecting Kids With Nature Through the Seasons.”
All about town, meanwhile, you can find a steady stream of concerts in various venues plus shows at the Barter Theatre, including “The Wizard of Oz,” “The Fantasticks” and “Showtime at First Baptist.”
Just before the festival ends, on Aug. 8, look for “Tomato Fest” when the Abingdon Farmers Market moves to the Main Street block between Cummings Street to Wall Street, 7 a.m. to noon.
“There are chefs demonstrating all sorts of new ways of cooking tomatoes,” said Sara Cardinale, the farmers market manager. “And Virginia is real good at growing tomatoes, so it kind of showcases one thing that we’re real good at.”

TEMPEST
Among the festival’s musical highlights, on July 25, is “Motown Downtown! A Street Party” –  featuring The Coasters and the Marvelettes, 6-10 p.m., on the 200-300 blocks of West Main Street.
Opening weekend – on July 25-26 – also features performances by Kids Our Age, Jan Benschop, Jimmy Fleenor & the Highlands All Stars, The Bearded, Gill Braswell and FARM USE.
Listen for the annual “Gospel Concert” – this year featuring The Dixie Echoes and The Chuck Wagon Gang – on July 30, 7 p.m., at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center.
Big Daddy Weave, a contemporary Christian band, performs on Aug. 1, 7:30 p.m., at Abingdon’s Highlands Fellowship Church.
Also on the schedule is “Classical Sundays,” held each Sunday, 3 p.m., with a $5 admission at the Abingdon United Methodist Church. Performers incude Carrie Stevens (July 26); Dr. Sun-Joo Oh (Aug. 2); and Dr. Chi-Long Hu (Aug. 9).
Celtic Weekend runs Aug. 1-2 with performers including Burning Bridge Cleary and the Abingdon Highlanders Pipe & Drum Corps at the Events Tent on Porterfield Square. “And, we like it this year especially because we have two of our favorites coming back - Tempest and Coyote Run,” said Sandra Parker, chairman of the festival’s music committee. “And Rathkeltair is also a favorite.”
More music happens at the Monroe Jamison Memorial Bluegrass & Old Time Music Weekend on Aug. 8-9. Performers range from Lost & Found to The Wolfe Brothers, The Sheets Family and the New Ballard Branch Bogtrotters.
Also on the bill is Dale Jett, a grandson of country music pioneers A.P. and Sara Carter of The Carter Family. Jett performs at noon and 3 p.m. on Aug. 8 at Porterfield Square.
“He’s legendary,” Parker said. “And we’re glad to have him at the festival.”
   
YOU SHOULD KNOW
WHAT: Virginia Highlands Festival
WHERE: Abingdon and surrounding communities
WHEN: Runs July 25-Aug. 9
ALL THE DETAILS: Pick up a free copy of “Highlander Magazine” available at locations around Abingdon, Bristol and nearby towns.
INFO: (276) 623-5266
WEB: http://www.vahighlandsfestival.org

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History topics range from ghost tales to Abigail Adams

ABINGDON, Va. – This year, the Virginia Highlands Festival welcomes the return of the Colonial Trade Faire, held on the Mustering Ground of The Overmountain Men in 1780, just off Main Street.
Consider this like a festival within a festival, running daily from July 25 to Aug. 9, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with demonstrations of cooking, survival skills, clothing and children’s games in the late 1700s.
Look for hatchet throwing contests on July 25, 11 a.m., and July 26, 2 p.m., plus a ghost story-telling session with “Haunted Historic Abingdon” author Donnamarie Emmert on July 31, 8 p.m., with prizes awarded for telling the best three ghost tales.
Across town, meanwhile, historical lectures at Abingdon United Methodist Church include “Life in Civil War Abingdon as Told Through the Abingdon Virginian” on Aug. 3, 6:30 p.m., by Robert Vejnar, the archivist for Emory & Henry College.
In nearby Saltville, Va., “Cradle of America: Four Centuries of Virginia History” author Peter Wallenstein is presenting “Virginia History: The View from Blacksburg, Saltville or Abingdon, rather than Jamestown, Williamsburg or Richmond” at the Museum of the Middle Appalachians on Aug. 9, 2-4 p.m.
The festival also features a return visit by amateur historian Henny Schuster, who is portraying Abigail Adams, the wife of the country’s second president, John Adams, at Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church on July 30, 2 p.m.
“I did this in Abingdon five years ago for a family who was having a family reunion,” said Schuster, 84, a former Abingdon resident now living in Powhatan, Va. “It was interesting for me to portray this woman, because she’s totally different from any Virginian. They lived right off the coastline in Massachusetts ... So I have to set that portrayal in that land first.”
  Schuster’s depiction will show how Adams had to adapt to a coastal environment and how John Adams rose to political prominence. “And what’s so different is how devoted this couple was to each other,” Schuster said. “They hated being apart.”

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Festival features field
trips ... and s’mores

ABINGDON, Va. – Getting outdoors remains a big part of the Virginia Highlands Festival.
Kicking off at 8 a.m. on July 25, you can ride the Virginia Creeper Trail with Lawrence “The Legend” Dye.
Also that day, at 9 a.m., you can join the “Sun, Trees and Horse: A Sustainable Forestry Tour” field trip, starting at Abingdon’s Jubilee House Retreat Center.
At other events, you can learn about the American chestnut on a field trip to the Settlers Museum of Southwest Virginia, of Atkins, on July 25, 10 a.m.
In Russell County, you can also hike to the Pinnacle Natural Area Preserve (Aug. 3; 9 a.m.-4 p.m.) to see a waterfall, Copper Ridge and the Clinch River.
More outdoor events include:
n “Backbone Rock Recreation Area: Picnic & Natural History Walk” (July 26, 1-4 p.m.)
n “Day Hike on the Little Stony National Recreation Trail” (July 29, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.)
n “Beyond the Solar System” (July 29, 8:30 p.m.) at Creed-Fulton Observatory at Emory & Henry College
n “Salamanders of Mount Rogers National Recreation Area” (July 30, and Aug. 1, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.)
n “Wildflower Walk on Whitetop Mountain” (July 30 and Aug. 6, 9:30 a.m.)
n “Emory & Henry College Organic Garden Tour” (July 31, 10 a.m.)
n “The World Underground: Exploring Caves” (Aug. 1, 3-8 p.m. and Aug. 2, 1-6 p.m.)
n “Fly Fishing: Aquatic Entomology & Fly Casting Demonstration” (Aug. 4, 8:30 a.m.-noon)
n “Forest Ecology Hike at Channels State Forest” (Aug. 5, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.)
n “Local Birding Lecture & Hike” (Aug. 8, 10 a.m.) at the Settlers Museum of Southwest Virginia
n “A Taste of Damascus & the Appalachian Trail” (Aug. 2, 1-4 p.m.)   
n On Aug. 1, you can also find the Appalachian Power “ECO-FAIR” at the Abingdon Farmers Market Pavilion, with live music, local organic food tasting and exhibits from local conservation-minded agencies.
n A week later, on Aug. 8, you can find the “Campout on the Creeper” with members of the Virginia Creeper Trail Club offering an overnight outing at the “Y” park at the Brillhart picnic pavilion behind Elderspirit. “It’s meant to be a family fun night,” said Claiborne Woodall, a member of the festival’s outdoors committee. “It’s a campout with kids, with s’mores and that kind of stuff.” 

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