The third annual Bristol in Bloom Appalachian Regional Art Festival is happening Saturday, Oct. 14 at Cumberland Square Park in the heart of downtown Bristol, Virginia.
From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the festival celebrates and features the richness of the arts community of Appalachia and the beauty of Cumberland Square Park. Spread out outdoors across the four acres of Cumberland Square Parks, this free public event brings together 60 regional artists, makers, and organizations from Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.
Attendees of all ages can enjoy the day engaging with Appalachian art, learning from Appalachian artists, participating in kids’ activities, live art demonstrations and interacting with art installations and performances.
Scheduled activities will be taking place during the event.
For those interested in watching a live demonstration, starting at 11 a.m., local artist Kara Bledsoe shares a live pottery wheel demonstration and gives insight to her process. Dan Scott of Artistic Kindling also shares about the process of marquetry, or what he likes to call “quilting with wood.”
Because Bristol in Bloom is meant to be a family-friendly event, all day long, the William King Museum of Art will be sharing a block printing community art activity suitable for people of all ages to participate in.
Along with the William King Museum, the Girl Scouts of the Southern Appalachians will be sharing a kid-friendly community art activity that will be available all day long.
Sullins Academy and Appalachian Sustainable Development will also be hosting kid-friendly art activities in the Kids Zone at the art festival.
Lauren Houser of Top Stitch Studios is bringing back her kids sewing activity for a second year, teaching children how to sew at her booth all day long.
There will be three interactive art installations at the event.
Local multi-disciplinary artist, Jennifer Buckland, will be hosting an interactive Alien Autopsy Installation available all day at the event.
Marcy Parks brings back her “Williams Wall” installation from 2021 inviting festival attendees to unburden themselves at the walls so they may enjoy the festival freely.
Parks’ 2022 installation, “Butterfly Garden: a Labor of Love,” also returns on festival day where she will debut her 2023 “Cloud Walk” Installation.
Lauren Houser’s Flower Garden and fabric hoops are on display in the Kids Zone of the event for the third year.
This year’s food vendors feature The Fat Straw, a boba tea truck, the Kickin’ Chicken Shack providing fried chicken and wings, Tasty Treats by: Tab featuring rolled ice cream and desserts, and a Union 41 pop up featuring gourmet pizzas from Hell’s Kitchen’s Chef T.
Throughout the day, festival-goers can interact with the various art installations, installed by Lauren Houser of Top Stitch Studios, and shop at any of the 60+ arts, crafts, and food vendors at the event.
