Blue Ridge Country - March/April 2017 - 36

JOE TENNIS

Sonker Festival

ing Oktoberfest, Sept. 23-Oct.
30. Nearby, Dollywood's National
Southern Gospel & Harvest Celebration runs through the month,
until Oct. 28, at Pigeon Forge. In
northeast Tennessee, enter Erwin
for its Unicoi County Apple Festival, held Oct. 6-7, with about 350
crafters amid a crowd that sometimes soars to 100,000 (unicoicounty.
org). Nearby, check out the big circus
tents of the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, for unforgettable outdoor
programs by various voices plus
late-night performances for adults
and ghost story concerts on Oct. 6-8
(storytellingcenter.net).
Discover the Spartanburg
International Festival for recognition of the diverse population
of Spartanburg, South Carolina,
on Oct. 7 at Barnet Park (864-5963613). Or roar into Tiger, Georgia,
on Oct. 7 (stonewallcreek.com) for
Stonewall Creek Vineyard's annual
Harvest Stomp!
In Elkins, West Virginia, the
Mountain State Forest Festival
36 BlueRidgeCountry.com

Smoky Mountain Christmas

runs Sept. 30-Oct. 8 as a celebration
of prudent development and conservation (forestfestival.com). In turn,
the Page County Heritage Festival of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley,
on Oct. 7-8, includes apple butter
boiling plus all-day demonstrations
of spinning, crochet, basket-making
and wheel-thrown pottery at Luray
(pagecountyheritage.com).
Taste of Our Towns can be
found at Lewisburg, West Virginia
on Oct. 14 with live music and culinary creations. You can also find
food, fun and fireworks-plus 5,000
friends-on Oct. 14, 10 a.m.-10
p.m., at the Royston Fall Festival of
Royston, Georgia (706-245-7577/
cityofroyston.com).
At mid-October, it's time for
leaves to change. So, on Oct. 13-15,
look for both the Autumn Leaves
Festival at Mount Airy, North Carolina and Fall for Greenville in
Greenville, South Carolina.
The Fall Celebration at Hardman Farm runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
on Oct 14 in the Nacoochee Valley
of Georgia. Drink the apple cider

made with a hand-cranked press
and learn how to make candles and
butter, just south of Helen (georgia
trust.com).
On Oct. 21-22, the long-running
Woolly Worm Festival (woolly
worm.com) gathers lots of laughs as
woolly worms race in downtown
Banner Elk, North Carolina, and, by
tradition, the overall winning worm
will win exclusive forecasting rights
for the winter!
Autumn also includes West Virginia's Official Bridge Day, held
Oct. 21, at the New River Gorge
Bridge at Fayette County. Here,
you'll find daredevils jumping or
rappelling. Of course, you can also
simply stroll the 3,030-foot-long
bridge near Fayetteville to visit vendors (officialbridgeday.com).
Visit Home Craft Days in Big
Stone Gap, Virginia, on Oct. 20-22,
to witness old-time music, crafters and food at Mountain Empire
Community College (homecraftdays.
org). Then, at dark, stick around the
school for the annual Haunted
Forest, a frighteningly fun fund-

http://www.forestfestival.com http://www.trust.com http://www.worm.com http://www.pagecountyheritage.com http://www.storytellingcenter.net http://www.cityofroyston.com http://www.officialbridgeday.com http://www.stonewallcreek.com http://www.BlueRidgeCountry.com

Blue Ridge Country - March/April 2017

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