Blue Ridge Country - March/April 2018 - 24

City Hog Fest on April 6-7 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, with more
than 40 participating teams cooking ribs, wings, brisket and more
(visitspartanburg.com).
Look for treasures at the Spring
Arts, Crafts and Collectibles
Show at the Foothills Mall of
Maryville, Tennessee, on April 7-8
(smokymountains.org).
And do you need a fix for a
sweet tooth? Well, visit West Virginia on April 14, and look for the
Lewisburg Chocolate Festival
as dozens of independent chocolatiers-and almost every store, business and restaurant in town-offer
tasty treats like double-dark chocolate ice cream in exchange for a
$1 ticket (800-833-2068). Kids can
have Oreo truffles while adult-only
tastes include a Chocolate Martini
(lewisburgchocolatefestival.com). Also
on April 14, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., you'll
find another Chocolate Festival
in Blacksburg, Virginia, with live
music and samples of
artisan chocolates (rotarychocolate.weebly.com).
Turn south to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, to sip fine wine at the
Smoky Mountain Winefest
(gatlinburg.com) on April 14.
Nearby, look on April 14 for the
Townsend Founder's Day, with
a walking tour originating at the
Little River Railroad Museum (smokymountains.org) in Townsend, Tennessee. Or head to Knoxville on
April 14 for the Rossini International Street Festival (knoxvilleopera.com), celebrating international culture, crafts and opera with
a variety of Italian, Mediterranean
and international foods.
The Hands-On Gatlinburg
event on April 13-15 (800-568-4748)
features lessons in how to make
unique works. Another option: On
the "peaceful side" of the Smokies,
look for the Smoky Mountain
Fiber Arts Festival (townsendartisanguild.net) in Townsend, Tennessee, running April 20-22 at the Great
Smoky Mountain Heritage Center.
Wear your flannel and boots
when you pop into Pikeville, Ken24 BlueRidgeCountry.com

tucky, on April 19-21, to celebrate
the mountain frontier at Hillbilly
Days, featuring three days of a crazy carnival plus fun, food and frolics
(hillbillydays.com).
The Honaker Redbud Festival on April 20-22 in Honaker, Virginia, includes a canoe contest plus
music (honakerredbudfest.com).
Dahlonega's Bear on the
Square Festival in Georgia features musicians and crafters on
April 21-22; it kicks off with auction night on April 20. This party's
funny name recalls when a baby
bear climbed a tree in town and was
rescued (bearonthesquare.org). Also in
Georgia, follow the highway to Helen for the Spring Bierfest at the
Festhalle, starting at noon on April
21 with traditional German dancing
and over 100 beers to sample (helenchamber.com).
Head to Watoga State Park on
April 20-21 for this year's Wild
Edibles Festival in West Virginia,
where you'll learn how to find, prepare and understand the healthy
benefits of consuming "the weeds
of the woods" (800-306-7009).
In Hendersonville, North Carolina, look for the Cider Wine &
Dine Weekend on April 20-22,
featuring hard cider producers from
the region plus local wines (visithendersonvillenc.org). In turn, the
Fork & Cork in Blacksburg, Virginia, on April 21, 1-6 p.m., features
wine, food, music and an art extravaganza plus cooking demonstrations (blacksburgforkandcork.com).
You can celebrate the beauty of
the Great Smoky Mountains on
April 24-28 during Gatlinburg's
Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage
(gatlinburg.com).
The time-honored music gathering of MerleFest returns to Wilkes
Community College in Wilkesboro,
North Carolina (merlefest.org), on
April 26-29 with performers including Cardboard Fox, Jim Lauderdale,
Erin Harpe, Jeanette Williams Band,
Roy Book Binder, My Bubba, Rodney Crowell, Robert Earl Keen and
Kris Kristofferson.
Go dig the Dogwood Arts Fes-

tival in Knoxville, Tennessee, as
pretty trees bloom on Market Square
with a juried arts and crafts show on
April 27-29 (dogwoodsarts.com).
You can also tap the West Virginia Craft Brew Festival at the
State Fairgrounds of West Virginia
near Lewisburg on April 28 (304645-1000).
For a spring fling, slip into Sylva,
North Carolina, for Greening Up
the Mountains (greeningupthemountains.com) on April 28-with
more than 200 vendors on Main
Street and Railroad Avenue. And
head to the actual Spring Fling of
Spartanburg, South Carolina, on
April 27-29 (visitspartanburg.com). Or
simply Celebrate Clayton, looking for arts and crafts in Clayton,
Georgia, on April 28-29 (celebrateclayton.com).
In Georgia, the Blue Ridge
Trout Fest & Outdoor Adventures (706-374-2390) casts a line
at the Blue Ridge City Park on April
28 with fly-fishing seminars, kayak
vendors, trout conservation experts
and local guides.
As April becomes May, the
Shenandoah Apple Blossom
Festival blooms across Winchester,
Virginia, with a variety of crafters,
a carnival and fireworks (thebloom.
com) on April 27-May 6.

http://www.dogwoodsarts.com http://www.visitspartanburg.com http://www.hillbillydays.com http://www.honakerredbudfest.com http://www.smokymountains.org http://www.greeningupthemountains.com http://www.greeningupthemountains.com http://www.bearonthesquare.org http://www.visitspartanburg.com http://www.celebrateclayton.com http://www.helenchamber.com http://www.celebrateclayton.com http://www.lewisburgchocolatefestival.com http://www.helenchamber.com http://rotarychocolate.weebly.com http://rotarychocolate.weebly.com http://www.gatlinburg.com http://www.thebloom.com http://www.thebloom.com http://www.visithendersonvillenc.org http://www.smokymountains.org http://www.knoxvilleopera.com http://www.blacksburgforkandcork.com http://www.knoxvilleopera.com http://www.gatlinburg.com http://www.merlefest.org http://www.townsendartisanguild.net http://www.townsendartisanguild.net http://www.BlueRidgeCountry.com

Blue Ridge Country - March/April 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - March/April 2018