MECC Hosts 46th Annual Home Craft Days Festival

Big Stone Gap, VA – Mountain Empire Community College will once again welcome thousands of visitors to the campus this fall for the 46th Annual Home Craft Days Festival held Oct. 20-22.

Celebrating the rich music, culture, and artistry of Southwest Virginia, the Home Craft Days Festival features two full days of concerts, craft vendors, and demonstrations of weaving, pottery making, grist milling, wood crafting, basket weaving, broom making, quilting, tatting and more.

Heading this year’s free Friday night concert are the ETSU Old Time Pride Band, Dale Jett and Hello Stranger, and Sigean. The concert will begin at 6 p.m. in MECC’s Phillips-Taylor Hall Goodloe Center.

According to festival coordinator Mike Gilley, “This annual festival is a homecoming, a chance for family and friends to gather and share our cultural heritage. We are excited to showcase the best of the region’s music, crafts, and food!”

Craft and food vendors will be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s music schedule includes featured performers: Todd Meade and Family, Tommy Bledsoe, The Scott County Boys, Sigean, The Railsplitters With Center Stage Cloggers, Jimmy and Ada McCowan, the Empty Bottle String Band With Center Stage Cloggers, New Harvest Brothers, The Sheets Family Band, Anndrenea Belcher & The Wild Boys, Whitetop Mountain Band With Center Stage Cloggers, Kay Justice, Town Branch Bluegrass, Scott County JAM, Wise County JAM, Sycamore Holler, Corbin Hayslett & Saro Lynch (Ravens & Wrens), Brandon Maggard, Joy Blair, Danny Whited and Friends of Bluegrass, Kelsey Ray Copeland, The Childress Family, Jack Wright and Roger Hall, Jack Beck and Wendy Welch.

Sunday’s performers include: Glenn Roberts, Pam Randolph and Doug Dorschug, Angie Debord, The Crooked Road Ramblers With Center Stage Cloggers, Poplar Hill Reunion, Bill and the Belles, Roan Mountain Moonshiners, Grayson Ridge Runners With Center Stage Cloggers, Smith Family Singers, John Haywood, Sons of Liberty, Richard Phillips & Friends, Ms. Ellie’s String Band, Rich Kirby and Nate Polly, Lee Sexton, Sulphur Spring String Dippers, Eric McMurray and Friends, Ron Short and The Possum Playboys, Nancy and Bill Smith.

Admission is FREE to all the festival events. MECC is located on US Route 23 just south of Big Stone Gap, Virginia. Parking and shuttles for the festival will be offered at five locations in Big Stone Gap. Shuttle rides are $1 per person at boarding. Locations include:

  • Union High School (formerly Powell Valley High School) – Front Parking Lot
  • Curbside, Wood Ave, in Front of Food City
  • Curbside, Municipal Parking Lot behind Post Office/Federal Building
  • Country Inn
  • Comfort Inn

Volunteers are needed to assist with festival set-up, refreshments, clean-up and more. If you’d like to volunteer your time, please visit www.homecraftdays.org/volunteer.

For more information on the event, including a detailed schedule of vendors and musicians, visit the Home Craft Days website at www.homecraftdays.org.

-MECC-