Saturday October 8, 2022, 10-4

We are so excited to be back in person this year! We hope you’ll join us on Lunsford Commons (MHU’s Upper Quad) for a fun day of wonderful regional music!

About the Festival

The Lunsford Festival is an all-day festival celebrating regional music and dance traditions. The event is the second longest-running folk festival in Western North Carolina and was named in honor of Bascom Lamar Lunsford, who was a musician and folklorist who dedicated his life to collecting and promoting the music of the Southern Appalachians.

The festival brings out the region’s finest musicians, ballad singers, and dancers and it happens on the same day as the Madison Heritage Arts Festival, so Mars Hill is abuzz. We also encourage you to head over to MHU’s Weizenblatt Gallery, which will be exhibiting work by photographer Rob Amberg, known for his work with Madison County ballad singers, as well as work by ceramics artist Josh Copus. MHU’s Rural Heritage Museum will also be open! Everything is free of charge.

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. Download a campus map here.

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