Heritage fest is Saturday

By COBY LaRUE
Staff

The annual Mountain Heritage Festival will be held on Saturday. The festival, which is a no admission event, will begin at 9 a.m. and end at 5 p.m.

The festival offers live music, arts and crafts for sale, an array of food items and a play area for children. More than 60 different vendors are scheduled to take part in the event.

“This is a classic downtown street festival, we’re expecting enough vendors to keep the crowds busy all day,” said Bob Bamberg, executive director of the Alleghany Chamber of Commerce. “It’s going to be crisp autumn weather, so bring a sweater.”

The intersection of U.S. 21 and N.C. 18 will be closed to traffic beginning at 5 a.m. on Saturday morning. Cheek, Grayson, Doughton and Jones streets will be open for traffic to divert around the festival. All roads should be reopened by around 6 p.m. Handicapped parking will be available at the town parking lot between the ABC store and the BP service station.

The play area for children will be on South Main Street, near the end of the row of vendors. Attractions will include a bounce house, balloons and games and face painting.

The event also features a variety of musical offerings. The featured band, Harvest Wind, performs at 12:30 p.m. The five-piece band from Statesville offers a mix of bluegrass and gospel music and will perform for about one hour. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs — no prepared seating is being offered.

Throughout the rest of the day, musical offerings will include old time, gospel, bluegrass and clogging.

A complete list of bands and performance times include:

9:30 a.m., Delana Hanes;

10 a.m., JAM (Junior Appalachian Musicians);

10:45 a.m., Boothill Cloggers;

11:15 a.m., New Dawn;

12:30 a.m., Harvest Wind; and

2 p.m., Hoedowners.

An additional attraction will come in the form of classic automobiles. The Mountain Top Cruisers will be parking on the Farmers Hardware lot on Main Street all day. “We’re real excited about this new addition to the festival,” said Bamberg. The cruisers are a local group of classic car and truck enthusiasts who typically hold self-sufficient events in town. “We’re glad they decided to join us Saturday,”Bamberg added. In addition, a number of artists will have their wares available. The event is promoted as a ‘juried arts and crafts festival.’

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