34th ANNUAL “FESTIVAL OF CHRISTMAS PAST”

      Great Smoky Mountains National Park announces the 34th annual Festival of Christmas Past celebration scheduled Saturday, December 12, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the Sugarlands Visitor Center. The event, sponsored in cooperation with Great Smoky Mountains Association, is free to the public.
      Festival of Christmas Past is an annual celebration of the culture of the Smoky Mountains, with an emphasis on the Christmas season. “Around Christmas time, people gathered in churches, homes, and schools, and many of them celebrated the holiday through music, storytelling, and crafts.
Festival of Christmas Past allows us to pause and remember some of these traditions,” said Kent Cave, North District Resource Education Supervisor.
      The festival will include old-time mountain music featuring the "Lost Mill String Band," "Boogertown Gap" band, and "South of the River Boys." Demonstrations of traditional domestic skills such as the making of baskets, lye soap, quilts, and apple butter will be ongoing throughout the day. Other special programs that will be presented include:
      9:30 a.m. – "Old-fashioned Harp Singing" led by Bruce Wheeler, Paul Clabo and Martha Graham
      12:00 p.m. – Cuz Headrick telling stories of the holiday season
      1:00 p.m. - “Stories of the Past” session, presented by the Smoky Mountain Historical Society
      2:00 to 3:00 p.m. – “Memories Along the Trail” – Costumed interpreters will lead a short walk from the visitor center and talk about life in the mountains during the holidays in the early days of the 1880s to the 1930s
      “Local craftspeople and musicians come together to share their ancestral skills with the public during this annual festival. We invite the public to participate in the day’s activities and learn about winter life and work in the Great Smoky Mountains,” said Cave.