Asheville, NC – The Folk Heritage Committee announces its summer 2021 dates for two celebrated mountain traditions in Asheville, North Carolina: the 55th season of Shindig on the Green® and the 94th Annual Mountain Dance and Folk Festival ®. Each event features long-standing as well as the newest generation of traditional and mountain string bands, ballad singers, and big circle mountain dancers and cloggers, resulting in fun-filled and authentic evenings enjoyed by all ages.
The 55th Season of Shindig on the Green ® Presented by the Folk Heritage Committee with Headlining Sponsor Alan’s Jewelry & Pawn/Finkelstein’s Loan Office, a free event in the heart of downtown Asheville, with a stage show and informal jam sessions, takes place on Saturday evenings. The event kicked off on July 3rd this year, Shindig on the Green ® will be held on 10, 17, 24, 31; August 14 and 21, 2021, in the heart of downtown Asheville at Pack Square Park’s Roger McGuire Green. The stage show takes place on the Bascom Lamar Lunsford stage, named for the founder of the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival ®. Locals and visitors alike gather “along about sundown,” or at seven o’clock for those who wear a watch, for Shindig on the Green ®. Since the outdoor event’s inception in 1967, hundreds of thousands of individuals from across the region and throughout the world have shared and enjoyed the rich traditional music and dance heritage of the Southern Appalachian Mountains in this outdoor setting.
The 94th Annual Mountain Dance and Folk and Festival ®, a ticketed event at Lipinsky Hall Auditorium at UNCA, 300 Library Lane, Asheville, NC 28804 with a different show each night, takes place at 6:30 p.m. nightly, Thursday through Saturday, August 5, 6 & 7, 2021. The sister event to Shindig on the Green ®, the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival ® was founded by Bascom Lamar Lunsford in 1928. The nation’s longest running folk festival, the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival ® showcases the best of the region’s mountain musicians, dancers, and storytellers during its three evenings of indoor performances.
The non-profit, all-volunteer Folk Heritage Committee’s mission is to preserve and present the musical heritage of the Southern Appalachian Mountains to audiences from throughout the region and world, for entertainment and education, by producing the annual Shindig on the Green ® and the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival ® events.
In accordance with the CDC and local guidelines, unvaccinated attendees are encouraged to wear a mask covering their mouth and nose. Free disposable masks will be available at the merchandise table. The Folk Heritage Committee will monitor Covid -19 cases and trends in Buncombe County and consult with local officials prior to each event.
For more info about the 55th Season of Shindig on the Green or the 94th Annual Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, visit www.folkheritage.org or call Brian Carter: 828-335-1263.
Photo by Aaron Dahlstrom
Photo by Gaston Lacombe
