September 23–24, 2023 @ Exchange Place
People in the Tri-Cities and the Appalachian Highlands have grown up with Exchange Place, and especially with its seasonal celebrations. And now, oneof the oldest fairs of its kind in our region is entering its second half-century, asExchange Place Living History Farmholds itsFall Folk Arts Festivalfor the51sttime.A joyous celebration ofpioneer arts and crafts and the harvest season, the festival takes placeSaturday, Sept. 23, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.,andSunday, Sept. 24 from 12-5p.m.Admission is $5,with thoseunder 12 admitted free.Proceeds go towards the care of the farm’s animals and the continued restoration and preservation of the site, located at4812 Orebank Road in Kingsport, Tennesseeand listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Both sides of Orebank Road will be filled with sales, foods and demonstrations as festival vendors offer a wide array of traditional folk arts, along with plants, local foods and seasonal crafts.Artisans, including woodworkers, potters, authors and artists, display and sell their work. Unique crafts are found everywhere – leather goods; a variety of soaps, including one made from donkey milk; toasty warm hats and mittens made from alpaca fleece; handcrafted greeting cards; and many knitted and crocheted items. There is also local honey, goat milk cheeses, homemade jams, jellies and breadsand much more.
A focus of the Fall Folk Arts Festival is on demonstrations of fall activities that might have been found on a mid-19th century Northeast Tennessee farm. History comes alive as visitors see sorghum being milled and cooked on Saturday, with Maggie T. Mule pulling the mill, while Sunday’s activities consist ofdetailsabout the process of making sorghum. (Pure sorghum syrup, made fresh this year by the Guenther family of Muddy Pond, Tennessee, is on sale, as long as supplies last.) Elsewhere on the farm, volunteers demonstrate other skills such as blacksmithing and chair caning.
For more information or to volunteer at the festival,call423-288-6071, visit exchangeplacetn.org, or write toepfestivals.gf@gmail.com.
Category: Festival