Musicians from Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio will perform at the 26th Celebration of Traditional Music, May 12 - 14, at Berea College.

Featuring old-time singing, playing and dancing, the annual event sponsored by the College's Appalachian Center will also feature a symposium on constructing musical instruments led by well-known dulcimer maker and musician Homer Ledford. Workshops also will be offered.

Friday and Saturday evening concerts on featuring festival musicians are key events of the weekend. Both concerts are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Phelps-Stokes Chapel.

Performers include Ed Cabbbell of Morgantown, W. Va.; fiddler Bobby Taylor and guitarist James Summers of St. Albans and Frametown, W. Va., and Ann and Phil Case, Kettering, Ohio. Kentucky performers are Paul David Smith and Band, Hardy; Larry Webster and The Mule Band, Pikeville; Jamie Wells, Dave Daugherty and the Trough Sloppers, Flat Gap, and Cat Holler Cut-ups, of Big Creek. Doug Wallin, who also was scheduled to perform, died in March. Square dancing, led by Charlie Whitaker and with music by Larry Webster and the Mule Band, will follow Saturday night's concert. Scheduled in the Dance Studio of Seabury Center, it will begin at approximately 10 p.m.

Workshops, performances, and a symposium will take place on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. in the Woods-Penniman Building. Capping the day's activities will be an Open Stage at 4 p.m. in the Woods-Penn Commons.

The symposium led by Ledford "Creating Traditional Musical Instruments" will begin at 2 p.m., also in the Commons. Ledford, of Winchester, has completed an estimated 5,776 dulcimers, 475 banjos, 23 mandolins, 21 guitars, 18 ukeleles, 13 dulcitars (an instrument of his own invention); three dulcijos; four violins and 2 bowed dulcimers. Also a well-known bluegrass musician, Ledford can play 13 different instruments. In 1976, he formed the Homer Ledford Cabin Creek Band. The group has performed extensively in the U.S. and in Japan, Ireland and Ecuador.

On Sunday morning, at 9 o'clock, participants can take part in a concluding concert of religious music in Union Church. Concert admission each evening is $7 for adults and $3.50 for children and youth ages 10-17. Tickets can be purchased at the door. All other festival events are free.

The celebration is made possible in part by a grant from the Kentucky Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. For additional information and a complete schedule of events contact the Berea College Appalachian Center at 606-985-3140, or email: .