2020 Festival online events planned!

Don’t forget to check out MHU’s Homecoming events too, Oct. 2-3!

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(In-Person Festival postponed until 2021)

In light of ongoing state and regional concerns with the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Music of Appalachia Festival scheduled for October 3, 2020, has been cancelled.  Musicians and performers have been gathering to honor Lunsford’s musical legacy and the rich traditions of Madison County on the campus of Mars Hill University for 53 years and we will be so sad to not be together this October. However, our top priority is keeping our students, staff, and wider community healthy so that we can come together for a big jam in 2021!

Check out this year’s virtual events!

About the Festival

The Lunsford Festival is an all-day festival celebrating regional music and dance traditions. The event is the second oldest folk festival in Western North Carolina and was named in honor of co-founder Bascom Lamar Lunsford. Lunsford was a musician and folklorist who dedicated his life to collecting and promoting the music of the Southern Appalachians. Through this work he became known as the “Minstrel of the Appalachians.”

The festival brings out the region’s finest musicians and dancers and it happens on the same day as the Madison Heritage Arts Festival, so downtown is abuzz. It includes the presentation of the Lunsford Award, master musician workshops, jams, a ballad swap, and a community dance. Everything is free of charge except for the instrument workshops. Join us in honoring the rich cultural traditions of the Southern Appalachians!

For more information, please contact Leila Weinstein at (828) 689-1115 or lweinstein@mhu.edu.

Click here for downloadable Lunsford Festival Map

The Ramsey Center is a proud site on the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina.

Thank you to our generous 2019 Festival Sponsors and Partners