Popular festivals like the 280 Boogie may be getting too crowded, but a lesser-known festival coming to Loachapoka promises to bring musical entertainment as well.
Those who attend the Lee County Gathering will have a chance to enjoy both music and dance and celebrate life in a way the pioneers who settled the mountains would have centuries ago.
Themed "Down From The Mountains," the music festival will be held at the Lee County Historical Society in Loachapoka April 28 to May 1.
"Old-time music is considerably different from bluegrass," said Bob Taunton of Sweet Fern Old-time Music. "People refer to some of the music we play as bluegrass, but actually it's not. It's much older than that.
"Bluegrass started sometime between 1925 and 1930, but our music goes back hundreds of years."
The festival will feature old-time music workshops, continuous jamming sessions, concerts, storytelling, period re-enactors and frontier food.
Musical instruction and performances will be provided by local and out-of- town artists and nationally-acclaimed musicians.
"It's great fun and a great way to get to know and reach out to the community," Taunton said.
Taunton said he would like to see college students attend the festival.
"They can see what entertainment was like 200 years ago," he said. "I think it would be a good eye-opener for them."
Attendees will gather at the auditorium of an old schoolhouse.
The Camp 1921 String Band will provide music, and a dance instructor will be available.
Multi-instrumentalist performer Joni Carr said he and his wife Ashley are enthusiastic about playing at the event.
"We both have a great love for old-time music and think it's still a very popular music, and it should be more popular than it is," Joni said. "It's old-timey dance music. It makes us feel good playing it and listening to it."
The couple will perform and provide music instruction. Joni will play guitar, bass, mandolin and fiddle.
Ashley will play the guitar and banjo and demonstrate flat footing, a type of folk dance.
Award-winning national performer Bing Futch will be performing and teaching mountain dulcimer and Native American flute.
"When I go to festivals, I tend to focus on Americana and roots music\0xAD--music that is passed down from generation to generation," Futch said. "I try and reference as much tradition as possible in music as well as putting one foot firmly forward into a progressive approach to traditional and modern music."
Christian humorist and musician Bill King will tell stories and sing songs as Billy Bob Bohannon, a character with whom he has entertained crowds for several years.
King will also teach harmonica.
"The event is fun," King said. "We have people from all over the Southeast perform. Most of them are music performers."
Various other performers and instructors will also attend the festival.
Taunton said he and his wife Rose enjoy being old-time music enthusiasts.
"We've come to know some of the greatest people in the world by following the old-time music circuit," he said.
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