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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, was replaced with three virtual events. While we wished we could have been together this year, the virtual events were special in their own way and we were happy to help keep our students, staff, and the wider community healthy so that we can all be together in 2021.
Read more about this year’s musicians.
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
Shuttles will run from and to the old Shell Station parking lot (next to Summit Church) on JF Robinson Lane (take a right-hand turn onto JF Robinson Lane if you are traveling on 213 West), where you can park your car. They will drop off/pick up in front of Pittman Dining Hall on Hwy 213 on campus. The first shuttle will leave the old Shell Station at 7:30 am and the last shuttle will leave Pittman Dining Hall at 5:30 pm.