Deep in the backwoods, mountain folks practiced many survival skills to create a life in the Smoky Mountains.  This festival will celebrate and educate on those skills. with live demonstrations and historic presentations. Learn how animal hides were tanned with actual demonstrations. See a frontier camp.  Learn about handicrafts like pottery and quilting. Experience Cherokee master craftspeople and storytellers. Blacksmithing, old-time firearms, and foraging are all on the agenda. There will be entertainment as well, with traditional music and even an exploration of the Scottish/Irish heritage  music of the  mountain settlers. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience local mountain culture at its most originalist.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 7
10:00 AM: Brain tanning seminar with Kim Palmer at frontier camp. And tour of camp with Kim Palmer
11:00 AM: Traditional and contemporary mountain pottery talk and display with Cory Plott
11:40 AM: Old time quilt display with Linda Plott Chastain
12:00 NOON: Edible plants and Wildcrafting with Illa Hatter
1:00 PM: Cherokee mask carving, storytelling and flint knapping with Davy Arch
3:00 PM: Mountain Blacksmith History with David Brewin and demos by Brain Noland and Shane Plott at frontier camp.
4:00 PM: Frontier Firearms seminar with UT history professor and flintlock expert Randal Pierce in conference room, display on the grounds all weekend.
5:00 PM: Bark tanning seminar with Charles Brown at frontier camp.
6:30 PM: Songs from the Scottish Highlands with Mike Ogletree