2009 festival information

This is an all-day festival celebrating regional music and dance traditions.  The event is the second oldest folk festival in Western North Carolina and was named in honor of cofounder Bascom Lamar Lunsford.  Lunsford was a musician and folklorist who dedicated his life to collecting and promoting the music of the Southern Appalachians.  Through his work he became known as "Minstrel of the Appalachians."  The festival, which is now in its 42nd year, brings out the region's finest musicians and dancers.  Numerous music and dance performances, jam circles, and a ballad & story swap will occur throughout the day. In addition to this year's daytime main stage performances, the festival will now feature a gospel stage. The gospel stage will be located in the college's outdoor amphitheater. The traditional evening concert will take place inside Moore Auditorium and will feature more than 15 different performances by ballad singers, dancers, and string bands. Join us in honoring the rich cultural traditions of the Southern Appalachians!

The festival will take place on October 3, 2009. The daytime segment will be located on the upper quad of Mars Hill College’s campus from 11 am until 4 pm; admission is free. The traditional Madison County Ballad and Story Swap will take place in Peterson Conference room from 1:30 - 3:30 pm. The evening concert will be held in the college’s Moore Auditorium. It will begin promptly at 7 pm and conclude around 10 pm; admission is $12 for adults, $6 for children, and MHC students free.

Please contact festival director Leslie Burrell Smith for more information at (828) 689-1571.

Below are some photos from the 2008 festival.

History of the Lunsford Festival

Bascom Lamar Lunsford, known as the “Minstrel of Appalachia,” worked to preserve the cultural heritage of southern Appalachia at a time when many were running from the region, and others were seeking to change it. He practiced law and other professions before returning to his first love, mountain music and dance.
From his earliest recollections, Lunsford was involved with the making of music and was strongly connected to Mars Hill College. He was the great-grandson of the college founder, Thomas Shepherd “Squire” Deaver, and was born on the campus in 1882 on the spot where Cornwell Hall now stands. Lunsford’s father taught at Mars Hill College, and his mother oversaw one of the residence halls.

In 1967, Lunsford and Mars Hill pharmacist Ed Howard collaborated to bring forth a festival that would differ from the other festivals in the area. The Bascom Lamar Lunsford Festival would be a time to celebrate the music and dance traditions that carried settlers through the hard times. Instead of trophies, old songs would be passed to new singers. Instead of competition, new players would learn old techniques.

Throughout its 41 years, the Bascom Lamar Lunsford “Minstrel of Appalachia” Festival has celebrated a particular style of life, shaped by both the beauty and the harshness of the land. Lunsford was the midwife for the rebirth of mountain culture. His legacy is the clear mandate of preserving the pride of the region through its people.

The founding of this festival is just one of the highlights of Lunsford’s career. He performed for both Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House and in England for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. He recorded his “memory collection” of some 350 songs, tunes, and stories for Columbia University in 1935 and the Library of Congress in 1949. These collections, plus some other materials, make the Lunsford collection at the Library of Congress the largest contribution by a single performer.

Throughout his life, Lunsford maintained close contact with Mars Hill College and donated many of his manuscripts, recordings, and instruments to the school. The Bascom Lamar Lunsford Scrapbook and Ballad Collection are a treasure of the college’s Southern Appalachian Archives. Lunsford’s instruments are on display in the Liston B. Ramsey Center for Regional Studies, located in Renfro Library. Lunsford claimed that he first learned banjo picking and ballad singing on the mountain campus, and of all the festivals he founded, this is the only one he allowed to carry his name.