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2025 Lunsford Festival (Saturday Oct. 4, evening)
About the Festival
This year, we are excited to announce that we will be holding the Lunsford Festival as an indoor, evening, sit-down concert in MHU’s Moore Auditorium (due to construction taking place on campus). The event will be free and open to the public and will feature some of the region’s finest regional music and dance traditions. (We also look forward to a celebratory return to MHU’s Lunsford Commons in 2026 for an all-day outdoor festival on the brand-new upper quad!)
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. Please join us in honoring the rich cultural traditions of the Southern Appalachians!
Please direct questions to Leila Weinstein at (828) 689-1115 or lweinstein@mhu.edu.
The Ramsey Center is a proud site on the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina.
While you’re waiting for 2025 to roll around, please enjoy the 2020 virtual festival:
Trying out a potter’s wheel
MHU’s Bailey Mountain Cloggers
Madison County Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) students playing “backstage”
Angel Ridge Farm demonstrates a spinning wheel
Making apple butter
Twirling at the festival
Parking
There is NO PARKING at the venue this year. You may either park on campus and walk the Greenway to the soccer fields OR use the festival shuttle, servicing both the Lunsford Festival and the Madison Heritage Arts Festival. The shuttle will run from 8 am until 5.30 pm between the Ingles on Hwy 213 (where you can park your car) and the festival location.