AUGUST 13, 2009 ISSUE
A Community Celebration That Won’t Break the Bank
2nd Annual Daniel Boone Days Music & Culture Festival September 4 and 5
After headlining music festivals across the country this summer, including playing to thousands of fans at Floyd Fest in July (pictured), Donna the Buffalo—which features Western North Carolina music scene mainstay, former member of Snake Oil Medicine Show and current member of Acoustic Syndicate Jay Sanders (pictured on bottom left)—will end its 20th anniversary tour in Boone with a two-hour set under the lights at Horn in the West on September 5. Pictured are DTB guitarist and vocalist Jeb Puryear (top left); DTB accordion, fiddle, guitar and scrubboard player and vocalist Tara Nevins (bottom right); and DTB keyboardist Dave McCracken (top right). Photos by Sam Calhoun
Although it may have seemed out of reach, the Boone community set a new World Record last year during the inaugural Daniel Boone Days Music & Culture Festival for the “Largest Gathering of People Dressed Like Daniel Boone.” More than 400 locals and visitors heeded the call to don faux coonskin caps and celebrate their town in the international spotlight during the inaugural event, raising the bar for future festivities. This year, Daniel Boone Days promoters undertook another momentous task—throw a large, family festival with top-level bands, all ages entertainment, a new World Record and more activities, while at the same time offering a ticket price that suits everyone’s pocketbook. After all, it wouldn’t be a community festival if the community couldn’t afford to come.
Happily, Daniel Boone Days promoters found a way to make it work. Tickets to the main event of Daniel Boone Days—the 2nd annual Daniel Boone Days Music & Culture Festival, planned from 1:00 to 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 5, at Horn in the West—cost $16 in advance and $20 at the door. What’s more, families of all sizes (including as many neighborhood kids under the age of 15 as you can fit in the mini-van) can enter the festival on September 5 between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. for a lump sum of $20.
Advance tickets (excluding the $20 Boone Family Pass, which is only available on the day of the event from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.) are available now via PayPal by clicking to www.DanielBooneDays.com or by stopping by High Country Press, located at 130 North Depot Street in downtown Boone, between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The $20 Boone Family Pass, like the regular ticket price, buys locals and visitors a jam-packed afternoon and evening of family fun, including storytelling by Orville Hicks, a World Record attempt and coonskin caps, arts and crafts vendors, chalk art, weird musical instruments, a giant inflatable slide for both kids and adults, a Daniel Boone Look-Alike Contest, a telling of the adventures of Daniel Boone by author Randell Jones and Celtic fiddlers the Forget Me Nots and live performances by Boone’s Upright & Breathin’ and national headliners Larry Keel & Natural Bridge and Donna the Buffalo.
The Festival
While the 2nd annual Music & Culture Festival at Horn in the West on Saturday, September 5, is the main event of Daniel Boone Days, the festival actually starts on Friday, September 4, with the 2nd annual Dr. Edwin Arnold Daniel Boone Symposium at ASU from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and continues that evening with the 2nd annual Fess Parker Wine Dinner at Gamekeeper Restaurant. The three events together represent the Town of Boone’s annual festival, Daniel Boone Days, which replaced Kraut Creek Festival one year ago.
For those into academia or for those who wish to know more about Daniel Boone and his connections to this region, Daniel Boone Days 2009 features the Dr. Edwin Arnold Daniel Boone Symposium from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Friday, September 4, in room 1018 of Thelma C. Raley Hall on the ASU campus. For only $3, visitors and locals will enjoy presentations on the history and significance of Daniel Boone from award-winning author and historian Robert Morgan—author of the Oprah’s Book Club selection Gap Creek and New York Times bestseller Boone: A Biography—and award-winning author Randell Jones, author of In The Footsteps of Daniel Boone. What’s more, the symposium includes a break for lunch in downtown Boone. Attendees will receive walking maps of downtown restaurants and businesses that also include information on an historical scavenger hunt that can be completed during the break. After lunch, attendees will reconvene for a one-hour question and answer session that includes a PowerPoint on the locations involved with the scavenger hunt.
Tickets cost $3 per person and are only available on the day of the event at the door on a first-come, first-serve basis. The Downtown Boone Development Association and North Carolina Humanities Council sponsor the symposium.
On Friday evening, after the academic portion of the festival comes to a close, wine, television and celebrity lovers will flock to Gamekeeper Restaurant, located at 3005 Shull’s Mill Road in Boone, for the Fess Parker Wine Dinner. Parker, television’s original Daniel Boone, has hung up his thespian cap these days and makes stellar wine with his family at their private vineyard in Los Olivos, Calif. A selection of Parker’s finest vintages will arrive at Gamekeeper on Friday, September 4, to be paired with some of the best wild game entrees on the East Coast for the annual wine dinner. Special guests are scheduled to attend. The evening features two seatings—one begins with a social at 6:00 p.m. and dinner at 7:00 p.m. and another with a social at 7:00 p.m. and dinner at 8:00 p.m. Reservations are required and seating is limited. To view the menu, click to www.DanielBooneDays.com. To make reservations, call 828-963-7400.
High Country Press and Mountain Fountain Productions are the presenting sponsors of the 2nd annual Daniel Boone Days Music & Culture Festival. The Downtown Boone Development Association, North Carolina Humanities Council, Horn in the West, Appalachian Hospitality Management, Watauga Education Foundation and Blue Ridge Parkway 75, Inc. also sponsor the two-day event.
For more information, call 828-264-2262. For more information on the festival, including performer bios, ticket sales, lodging options, photo galleries, sponsors, vendor information and more, click to www.DanielBooneDays.com.
Mountain Alliance Hosts Pancakes in the Park Before Daniel Boone Days September 5
You have always heard breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but it’s extra important when it’s Daniel Boone Days! On Saturday, September 5, Mountain Alliance invites the public to join them for the inaugural Pancakes in the Park fundraiser. For only $7, attendees can start their morning off right with a delicious breakfast and freshly brewed coffee.
Local food and farmers are being highlighted during this tasty event. Local sausage, eggs and potatoes will be featured alongside fluffy and delicious pancakes. The event will be held between 7:00 and 11:00 a.m. at the Daniel Boone Park shelter next to Horn in the West and Daniel Boone Native Gardens. Traveling on Blowing Rock Road, turn onto Horn in the West Drive and the park is just ahead on the left.
“Stop by the park and have breakfast with us any time between 7:00 and 11:00 a.m. before heading off to a day full of festivities,” said Todd Nolt, executive director of Mountain Alliance.
Proceeds of Pancakes in the Park will benefit Mountain Alliance. For 19 years, Mountain Alliance has provided an opportunity for youth to interact with each other while working to better the community or exploring the outdoors. The adventure activities Mountain Alliance offers attract students; through participation in these activities they gain an increased sense of self, and understanding for local environmental and social issues. Mountain Alliance activities occur during out of school time and are designed to provide a safe and supportive environment in which youth between the ages of 13 and 18 can develop and practice the essential qualities to become active and engaged citizens. This education is facilitated through a combination of service, outdoor and urban adventures.
“Our youth focus remains the center of our program today,” added Nolt.
“Mountain Alliance is grateful for the support of community members concerned with the issues facing local young adults,” said Nolt. “During the 2008-09 school year, we offered 212 program days that provided the youth at Watauga High School opportunities to grow as leaders though service, adventure and experience, while increasing their compassion for others and passion for preserving the natural world. Outside of school, Mountain Alliance is the premier agency most effectively serving the largest number of high school aged youth in Watauga County. Joining us for breakfast will help Mountain Alliance continue providing opportunities for youth in Watauga County to grow in leadership abilities while serving the local community.”
For more information about Pancakes in the Park or any of Mountain Alliance’s programs, call 828-263-0383.
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