Appalachian based festivals include several from Kentucky, Southern Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia.
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- Traditional Music and Spoken Word Performances This link opens in a new windowListen to selected musical performances and storytelling from the Berea Sound Archives.
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- Oral History Collections GuideBerea's online oral history collections cover a broad range of topics in the areas of Appalachian history and culture, and the history of Berea College. In many instances searchable transcripts accompany the digitized audio recordings.
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- American Folk Song Festival - Ashland, KY (AFSF)Founded in 1932 by Jean Thomas, "The Traipsin' Woman", in Boyd County, KY outside of Ashland. By 1938 it attracted over 20,000 people and had become more pageant than a festival. Thomas personally ran the event until her retirement in 1972. (Berea Sound Archives) Additional 1930s era performances are available in the Lomax Kentucky Collection. Blind, left-handed fiddler James W. Day (Jilson Setters) was a particularly well known Festival performer.
- Cincinnati Appalachian Festival - Cincinnati, OHThe Appalachian Festival began in 1970 as a project of the Junior League of Cincinnati. Since 1975 it has been produced by the Appalachian Community Development Association (ACDA) and has grown to be one of the largest urban-based Appalachian festivals in the United States.
- Appalachian South Folklife Festival - Pipestem, WVFounded by writer, educator, and activist Don West, a series of concerts and workshops promoting the traditional mountain folk music and crafts of Appalachia, and highlights the transfer of traditions to younger generations. (Performances referenced here are from 1979)
- Berea College Celebration of Traditional MusicThe Celebration of Traditional Music (CTM) began in 1974 as an outward manifestation of the Berea College Appalachian Center's traditional music committee. The CTM continues part of the Appalachian Center’s overall mission of encouraging and coordinating many of the Berea College’s special Appalachian programs, involving students and faculty, serving the region, and documenting the region’s culture. (Berea Sound Archives)
- Carter Family Festival - Hiltons, VAHeld at the Carter Family Fold since 1975, this festival was originally a memorial to A.P. Carter. The 1977 festival marked the 50th Anniversary of the Carter Family's historic 1927 recording session at Bristol, TN, considered by many to be the "Big Bang of Country Music." (Digital Archives Berea College)
- Cumberland Valley Folk Festival - Barbourville, KY 1979Founded and hosted by the A.L. Phipps family, well known Knox County, Kentucky gospel music group. (Berea Sound Archives)
- Fraley Family FestivalThe festival began as a Fraley family reunion in the early 1970s but soon grew to encompass an extensive extended musical family. Now called the "Fraley Festival of Traditional Music," it is held every year at Carter Caves State Resort Park. (Berea Sound Archives)
- Indian Springs Bluegrass Festival - Hagerstown, MDFrom 1972 through 1980, Bluegrass Unlimited magazine produced 17 major bluegrass festivals at a campground near Hagerstown, Maryland. The Indian Springs Bluegrass Festival is remembered for several “firsts.” These include Bill Clifton’s first U.S. appearance after several years abroad, and the only festival appearance by Clarence White before his untimely death. (For copyright reasons these are not available online, but can be heard in the Department of Special Collections & Archives at Berea College’s Hutchins Library.)
- John Henry Folk Festival - Kanawha Co., WVOrganized in the 1960s by African American musician, schoolteacher, and folklorist Ed Cabbell. The festivals are an annual celebration in West Virginia of its inter-ethnic cultural folk heritage with an emphasized focus on that of black Appalachians. The festival is especially noted for featuring Blues musicians and singers.
- McLain Family Band FestivalFor 13 years, in the late 1970s through the 1980s, the McLain Family Band hosted their internationally recognized annual McLain Family Festival showcasing family bands from the US and abroad. The first festival was at Renfro Valley in 1978, with the remaining years held at the McLain's Big Hill farm near Berea, KY.
- Mountain Dance and Folk Festival - Asheville, NCBascom Lamar Lunsford founded the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in 1928 as a means for people to share and understand the beauty and dignity of Southern Appalachian music and dance traditions. It continues to be the oldest gathering of its kind in the United States. (For copyright reasons additional performances are not available online, but can be heard in the Department of Special Collections & Archives at Berea College’s Hutchins Library.)
- Mountain Heritage Folk Festival - Carter Caves, KY 1971-1973Nancy and Harvey McClellan started this festival in the early 1970s with some encouragement from members of the Ashland (KY) Community College. The festival also filled a void left by Jean Thomas' recently defunct American Folk Song Festival. After several different locations at state parks in Carter County, KY, the festival ceased operation in the mid-1970s. (Berea Sound Archives)
- O'Tucks Festival - Hamilton, OHShort for 'Ohioans from Kentucky,' O'Tucks was founded in 1959 at Hamilton, OH by Kentucky-born educator Stanley Dezarn after he moved there. Originally an annual homecoming picnic for Kentucky migrants, it grew into a celebration of Appalachian heritage. The organization still sponsors an annual banquet and funds scholarships at nearby Miami University. (Berea Sound Archives)
- West Virginia State Folk Festival - Glenville, WV 1965-1966Since 1950, the West Virginia State Folk Festival has focused on old-time music, traditional square dancing, and Appalachian arts and crafts. The West Virginia State Folk Festival was initiated in 1950 by Dr. Patrick Gainer "to preserve the remnants of West Virginia traditional life and culture to the end that citizens may appreciate and respect the achievements of their forbearers." (Berea Sound Archives)
