The Rhododendron Festival will be 70 years old this year, and the Roan Mountain Citizens Club hopes to make this year’s festival a special one.
The festival is slated to take place on June 18 and 19 and will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. And, with this year’s cold Spring, the celebration could coincide with the peak bloom of the Rhododendron Gardens in Roan Mountain.
To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the event, mixed in among many musical acts, will be special guests, who will be announced at a later date.
“We have a few little surprises in store for this year’s festival,” said Roan Mountain Citizens Club president Brian Tipton.
Also making an appearance at this year’s festival will be past Rhododendron Festival Queens. From the 1940s to the 1970s, the festival featured a pageant from which a queen was selected each year.
There will be more than 100 arts and crafts vendors at this year’s festival, and visitors can expect some new ones. On hand will also be many food vendors.
A festival is not a festival without music. And this year’s Rhododendron Festival will feature many musical acts.
June 18th’s performances will be kicked off by Rhody Jane Meadows and Coffee House. Also performing on the first day of the festival will be Jim & Chire Miller, Joyful Noise Hand Bell Choir, Boss Family, Moonshiners, Third Generation, Band Wagon Fallacy, and Siam Symphony.
Also on day one, the Roan Mountain Citizens Club will present a $1,000 renewable scholarship to a graduate of Cloudland High School. Funding for the scholarships are raised through mini-auctions that take place during the festival and donations.
The second day will feature an open mic from 10 a.m. to Noon, followed by performances by Rhody Jane Meadows, Dan Henderson, Young Family, Reel Steel, and Greater Glory.
All the festivities are held in order to celebrate the world-famous rhododendron gardens that rest atop Roan Mountain. Each year, the gardens, when at peak bloom, bring in an abundant of visitors.
The Roan Mountain Citizens Club, which was founded in 1946, has hosted the festival since it first started in the late 1940s. The festival, which has grown over the years, was first held at the top of Roan Mountain, where the rhododendron gardens grow. However, the festival was later moved to where it is held now.
Over the past few years, the festival has steadily averaged around 20,000 visitors a year from all around the nation. Tipton believes it is the festivals authenticity that draws in the crowds.
“The festival does not have any resale items,” he said. “This is truly handcrafted crafts. They are homemade crafts that people have put their time and energy into making. The vendors offer very unique items.”
Tipton also believes that the longevity of the festival can be attributed to the people who have worked hard to keep it alive.
“It is the passion and dedications of the club,” he said. “It is also the members of this community that really support the festival and the club.”
The Rhododendron Festival is not the only thing the Roan Mountain Citizens Club has brought to community. One of its early achievements was to facilitate the construction of a two-lane highway to the top of Roan Mountain. Before the construction of State Route 143, the path to the top of roan mountain was a narrow, one-lane road.
Tipton said the festival would not be possible without the help of the Roan Mountain State Park, the Carter County Sheriffs Office, and the Roan Mountain Volunteer Fire Department. Tipton also wanted to thank Jack’s Grocery for its contributions.
For more info on the festival or the club visit www.roanmountain.com.