33rd Annual Celebration of Traditional Music

The 33rd annual Celebration of Traditional Music will be held a week earlier than usual. This year, and for the foreseeable future, the Appalachian Center expects to hold the festival on the 3rd weekend of October. Because we now have a (free) convocation concert on the Thursday evening before the weekend, we have added some Friday events, including a noon lunchtime concert – join us for a light lunch of soupbeans and cornbread! The symposium has been moved to Friday afternoon and this year Michael and Carrie Nobel Kline will focus on ethnic diversity in the coalfields of Pennsylvania, Northern Appalachia.

The festival has always featured a mix of well-known and little-known musicians and as much variety as we can muster within the “traditional” vein. We have enjoyed and explored blues, old-time string band music, ballad singing, harmony singing, fiddle tunes, banjo songs, gospel music, and even a little mariachi music in 2006.

Many people especially like coming because there are many opportunities to play music as a participant at the Celebration of Traditional Music. Although the festival does not feature modern Bluegrass music, we welcome all singers and pickers of acoustic musical instruments to pack them up and bring them to the jam sessions and open mic opportunities.

The Celebration is both entertaining and educational, open to families and people of all ages. Participants and performers mingle in the jam sessions, learning from each other. Saturday morning workshops allow you a hands-on experience with the festival musicians. Even concerts often include sing-alongs and other opportunities for audience participation. You don’t need experience or a partner to enjoy the afternoon dance, called by Frank Jenkins. The symposium is scholarly, but aimed toward a general audience and includes sound excerpts.

We work hard to keep our ticket prices low. This year, we will charge a flat fee of $12 for adults, $6 for youth (10-17) and younger kids are free – for all of Saturday’s events, including the instrument workshops. The concert only on Saturday night will be $10 (adults) or $5 (youth), with younger kids free. Berea College students are admitted free to all events with ID.

Special thanks to our campus co-sponsors, Convocations and Campus Christian Center!

The Kentucky Arts Council, a state agency in the Commerce Cabinet, has provided funding for the Celebration of Traditional Music with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.