Founded by Bascom Lamar Lunsford in 1928, the Festival celebrates the early musical traditions handed down by generations and recounted at the homes of the early settlers in the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains.

Beginning at 7 PM each night, the Festival formally showcases the best of the region�s mountain musicians and dancers � old-timers as well as the newest generation of bluegrass and mountain string bands, ballad singers, storytellers, big circle mountain dancers, and cloggers.

Audiences at each of the three performances will see an extensive line-up of musicians and dancers from in and around the mountains; each evening features at least four dance teams, from the very young to the young at heart. The popular and long-standing house band, the Stoney Creek Boys, returns for the 2004 Festival. Other performers representative of the great talent during the three nights of the Festival include:

Local dancer and long-time festival supporter Glenn Bannerman performs during the Festival and emcees Saturday evening. Bannerman is a familiar face from the Festival and from Shindig on the Green, where he is a frequent emcee and caller for the very popular street dances. Three generations of the Bannerman family, ages 8 to 77 years will join him for old-timey dancing and clogging. The Bannerman family has performed across the United States and Canada, and has participated in a goodwill tour of Central and South America for the State Department.

North Carolina native musicians George and Brooke Buckner represent the next generation of traditional mountain performers. George is a fourth generation banjo player who has performed with Bill Monroe, Mac Wiseman, and Josh Graves, among others. He has appeared on the Grand Ole Opry and with bands The Sidemen, Asheville Travelers, Kentucky Thunder, and the Blue Ridge Rangers. Brooke Windsor Buckner is a ballad singer, clogger, and clawhammer banjo player. A former member of the highly acclaimed Green Grass Cloggers, she played for many years with the Crane Branch Dew Drops with Jack Wallin and the late National Heritage Award Winner Doug Wallin. The duo has also performed in regional theatre productions and in the movie Songcatcher.

The McDowell Family Band began pickin� together in early 2000 with encouragement from Ray McElroy, their bass player. Brother and sister fiddlers Emma (age 15) and Bryan (age 12) are joined on stage by McElroy and their parents, banjo player Steve McDowell and guitarist Donna McDowell. The family group is quickly gaining recognition throughout the Southeast. They now perform a variety of gospel, traditional, and bluegrass selections that can be heard on radio stations throughout Western North Carolina, East Tennessee, and Upstate South Carolina. In January 2003, the group released �Precious Memories,� a compilation of their most requested gospel tunes.

The Festival will begin Thursday, August 5, with Hometown Appreciation Night. In keeping with the grassroots flavor of the festival, local families and individuals are encouraged to attend and help kick off the Festival. On Thursday, ticket prices are offered at a discount, $10 for the evening instead of $12, and $5 for children ages 5 to 12.

Festival emcees and a sampling of the many performers scheduled for each evening (note � schedule is subject to change):