This past Saturday, it was a typical day but only for those who didn’t travel to the Upper Quad to partake in the fifth annual Appalachian Festival. The festival pays homage to the regions landscape, history, culture, food and musical traditions. The population at the festival mostly consisted of Caucasians in the middle adult to the elderly range. However, there were a lot of programs to participate in that attracted people of all different ages and ethnicities.
One of the first acts I saw was band called “Highland Grass” which is a bluegrass music group. Bluegrass music is a sub genre of country music and is quickly gaining popularity in the mainstream media. Bluegrass music has roots in English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish and made its way to the United States. Bluegrass music involves one or more instruments playing the melody and improvising the music to their liking. The other musicians accompany the person who is leading the melody. Popular instruments for this type of music are the guitar, banjo, fiddle and an acoustic guitar. All of the musicians of this group were very in tuned with their instruments and showed great artistic poise. The group talked about their reputation spreading all throughout the Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia area for the last 30 years. Another performance I was able to see, which was one of my favorites was the “Barnstormers With the RockCandy Cloggers.” Clogging is a type of folk dance. Clogging roots come from traditional European dancing and also Cherokee dancing. The dancers wear extremely hard soled shoes to produce a musically and loud sound. The dancers strike their heels, their toes and sometimes both in unison against a hardwood floor to create beautiful music. The band said they perform in the area at schools and they provide clogging workshops. I noticed that the ladies wore very long and heavy red dresses. Their hair was pinned back and they also wore very long stockings. The musicians said that since they play their instruments so fast, it makes the cloggers have to perform more steps in fast intervals in beat with the music. It was also very informing to know that clogging has been a social dance in the Appalachian Mountains as early as the 1700’s. After I was musically inclined, I decide to take a walk around the rest of the fair.
The Amish had a couple of tables that contained all sorts of delectable goodies. The Amish are from the traditional Christian church but made up of a sub group of Mennonite churches. I noticed that the women wore bonnets and very plain and simple clothing. Their dresses were so long and their shoes were also plain. Their clothing is a part of their culture. The Amish culture has a very strong religious base and they value community. Some customs that they have is to refrain from the use of electricity and the outside world. Their table had all types of different cookies, pies and candies. There was also an old fashioned soda wagon located right off of the path. Some of the drinks served were old fashioned root beer, birch beer, orange soda and sarsaparilla. When I saw this wagon and the drinks being served, I immediately thought of the old time West, with cowboys and parlors. There was also a butter churning bucket that people could take turns churning. There was also plenty of samples of hot and cold cider. There was plenty of other food such as a wide variety of barbecue, hot dogs and baked goods.
Afterwards I walked into the tent that stretched about three lanes. Inside the tent was mostly middle aged women and their friends or husbands; selling all sorts of different crafts. Some of the crafts included handmade pot holders in colorful colors. There was also plenty of handmade jewelry that displayed the makers artistic abilities. One of my favorite tables was selling old alcohol bottles in a new way. The glass alcohol bottles had been melted and flattened and the color of the glass shown through and made pretty prisms that usually only see after a rainbow. This table also had plenty of jewelry but made out of bent glass. There was also lots of handmade baskets and quilts on display. I noticed that some of the quilts had a story outlined in the quilts. Some of the patches had symbols, numbers or letters. Quilts could be used to pass down history from one generation to another. All of the handmade crafts in the tent were very pretty.
There was also a very colorful arts bus that unfortunately only allowed children in. However, I was able to sneak in and observe what the kids were doing. The kids were making different crafts such as making lye soap and dying materials. There was also the everyday crafts. After I got off the bus there was a petting zoo. There was a lot of different animals ranging from bunnies, goats, birds etc. I was very tempted to take a bunny home. Animals in the Appalachian area are very important to the ecosystem. They help maintain the balance of life. We all know there are bears in the area and the community would rather have the beers hunting in the mountains than roaming onto the campus. After the animals there was an area with a lot of different games and toys out. However, the toys and games weren’t the kind you would find in a toy store off of Main Street. One of the games involved two people, one on each side standing on a wooden block. They held a rope between them and tried to pull the other one off. Other games included checkers but made out of wood and plenty of rope. The toys were very refreshing and quite entertaining.
Overall, my stay at the Appalachian Festival passed some time and it was worth the hike to the Upper Quad. It was great to hear some different music that I’m not accustomed to listening to, watching clog dancing, eating homemade goodies and participating in different activities. At the end I realize how special Frostburg is to be located in these beautiful mountains and the history behind everything is quite interesting.
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