Shindig on the Green

Shindig on the Green. . What began as a small show in a city festival resulted in two of the most important cultural events in the region. In 1928, the Asheville Chamber of Commerce asked musician and folk historian Bascom Lamar Lunsford to arrange a folk song and dance program as part of the city's Rhododendron Festival. When Lunsford brought the music and dance out of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and onto the stage for the public to experience, he created one of the nation's most important historical and cultural performance events. Asheville's Mountain Dance and Folk Festival is the nation's first and oldest continuously running folk festival. , Lunsford's cultivation and promotion of the region's folk heritage brought attention to Asheville and Buncombe County, and, in 1967 Shindig on the Green grew from the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival as a way to encourage and present a wide variety of performers in an informal outdoor atmosphere. Founded by members of Asheville's all-volunteer Folk Heritage Committee, Shindig presents authentic, traditional music and dance in a stage show on summer Saturday evenings “along about sundown,” while offering a gathering place for musicians to jam together around the park. With the completion of Pack Square Park in 2010, the Bascom Lamar Lunsford stage offers a permanent location for Shindig's stage shows. Musicians and dancers come from all over the mountains to fill the park with music and mountain camaraderie. , www.folkheritage.org. , [Captions] , (Bottom) Left: View of Shindig on the Green in Pack Square Park from the top of the Jackson Building. Top right: The Montreat Smooth Dancers perform during Shindig on the Green at City-County Plaza, c. 1960. Middle right: Traditional folklorist Bascom Lamar Lunsford calls a big circle mountain dance inside the Old City Auditorium during a Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, c. 1960. Bottom right: The Stoney Creek Boys have been the house band and a fixture on the Shindig stage since 1963. , (Top) Left: Musicians play for a dancer at Shindig on the Green, c. 1960. Right: People gather to listen to jammers play around the park. , The North Carolina mountains and foothills were designated the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area in recognition of their natural beauty and living traditions of music, croft, agriculture, and Cherokee culture. This location is part of a regional trail of distinctive heritage sites. Ask for information at area visitor centers. More information online at: www.blueridgeheritage.com