Redbud Folklife Festival begins tonight

By Tara Kaprowy
Staff Writer

Fri, May 16 2008

— Musicians, artists, craftspeople, writers and chefs will descend on The Bennett Center Thursday for the Redbud Folklife Festival, which celebrates Laurel County’s past and present. The festival takes place at The Bennett Center Thursday through Saturday.
The main stage will be alive with everything from Latin beats to good, old banjo picking thanks to a number of participating musicians, including Jennifer Rose, The Doolittles, The Johnson Sisters, Fernando Moya, Moses Hamblin, Appalatin, and Lewis and Donna Lamb.
The big closing concert will begin at 5:30 p.m. Saturday night, featuring Kate Larken and famed acoustic group The Reel World String Band.
Students from East Bernstadt Independent will also perform by showing off their clogging, basket making and traditional dancing skills, which they have learned over the past school year.
Writers will be part of the mix as well, with authors Silas House, Anne Shelby, Marianne Worthington, and Wayne Taylor on hand to talk about the writing process and to sign books.
Moreover, food demonstrations by Your Secret Chef’s Larry Murray, who will cook traditional Kentucky foods, will be part of the fun.
In addition to three stages, a Civil War Reeanactment Camp will be set up and populated with costumed interpreters showing off artifacts from the era. As well, visitors can learn about Native American culture thanks to expert Darla Jackson.
Attendees can also expect a shopping and eating extravaganza.
Food vendors will be set up around the property selling delicacies like roasted corn on the cob, baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, pinto beans and cornbread, cabbage with bacon, kettle corn, homemade root beer, funnel cakes, and hamburgers and hot dogs.
Artisans will be on hand not only to sell their wares, but also to exhibit how they’re made. There will be quilters, basket-makers, chair-makers, gourd artists, folk artists, weavers, woodcrafters, and even a working blacksmith.
While the traditional arts and Kentucky’s history will be celebrated, the festival will also showcase the various cultures making up Kentucky’s people today.
Hong Shao will come from Lexington to play the pipa, a traditional Chinese instrument similar to a lute. Meanwhile, a woman of Latin descent will make traditional Mexican quesadillas Saturday.
“The goal of this festival is for kids to recognize they have a heritage of their own that they need to learn and be proud of,” organizer Bonnie Johnson. “At the same time, we want them to celebrate Kentucky’s diversity.”
The festival is free and open to the public. School children, particularly those in the fourth and fifth grades, are encouraged to attend.
The festival will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday May 9 and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.

SCHEDULE
Thursday, May 8
• 3 p.m. Appalatin: A mix of Appalachian and Latin music
• 4:15 p.m. Open Jam with Appalatin

Friday, May 9
• 1:15 p.m. musician Virgil Bowlin
• 3:10 p.m. clogger Darla Jackson
• 4:30 p.m. musicians Jennifer Rose and the Lambs

Saturday, May 10
• 10 a.m. musician Jennifer Rose
• 11 a.m. Author’s Note: A writer’s roundtable featuring Silas House, Wayne Taylor, Marianne Worthington, Darla Jackson, Judy Sizemore
• 1:40 p.m. Fernando Moya — Latin Music/Pan Pipes
• 2 p.m. The Hillbilly Traveling Review featuring the Doolittles, the Gabbard Sisters, and the Johnson Sisters
• 4 p.m. Marianne Worthington — poetry reading
• 5:30 p.m. Kate Larken concert
• 6:30 p.m. Reel World String Band

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