AUGUST 27, 2009 ISSUE
Join the Herd!—Daniel Boone Days Is Back with Headliner Donna the Buffalo on September 5
2nd Annual Music & Culture Festival Returns to High Country September 4 and 5
After headlining music festivals across the country this summer, including playing to thousands of fans at Floyd Fest in July, 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—will end its 20th anniversary tour in Boone with a two-hour set under the lights at Horn in the West on September 5.In case you haven’t heard, the Herd is coming.
Next week, men and women, moms and dads, professionals and workers, students and children from all over this country will be grinning ear-to-ear as they punch the timeclock or hear the dismissal bell. These regular people—people like all of us—are smiling because they’re coming to the mountains to see a Donna the Buffalo show under the stars at Boone’s Horn in the West. They’re coming from Tennessee, Missouri, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Vermont and many more states; two are coming from Oregon; two are even coming from South Africa. They’re all coming to Boone; coming to see the old-time-rock-reggae-zydeco powerhouse Donna the Buffalo on the band’s 20th anniversary tour. The Herd—the loving moniker for Donna the Buffalo’s fervent fan following—is coming, and you’re invited.
In fact, you—the High Country community—are the guests of honor at this national music event, the 2nd annual Daniel Boone Days Music & Culture Festival, which is sponsored by High Country Press and Mountain Fountain Productions and planned for Saturday, September 5, from 1:00 to 11:00 p.m. at Horn in the West in Boone. All these visitors—the Herd, if you will—are coming to enjoy our scenery and our mountain life, to relax in our downtown and to truly experience the gem of it all, Horn in the West. Representing perhaps the best comprehensive feel of the High Country, Horn in the West is the envy of music venues four times its size, what with its towering oaks and hemlocks, cascading stadium seating, log cabin-peppered homestead, captivating stage setup and meandering wooded trails. And guess what…it’s all ours. Sounds like an excuse for a community celebration.
Hoping to build on the success of last year’s inaugural event and to involve more of the local community, Daniel Boone Days 2009 features inexpensive ticket prices, providing a national-level event with a small town price tag. Tickets to the festival cost $16 in advance and $20 at the door, and can be purchased by clicking to www.DanielBooneDays.com or by stopping by the office of High Country Press at 130 N. Depot Street, Monday through Friday between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. In addition, families of all sizes (including as many neighborhood kids as you can fit in the mini-van) can take advantage of the Boone Family Pass and enter the festival on Saturday, September 5, between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. for a lump sum of $20—no questions about direct lineage asked.
Not only does the festival feature Donna the Buffalo (click to www.donnathebuffalo.com to hear samples of their music), but also a host of other performers, such as live sets by Virginia’s flat-picking legend Larry Keel and his band Natural Bridge, Boone’s Upright & Breathin,’ Forget-Me-Nots and The Sheets Family; and activities, such as an inflatable slide for kids and adults; storytelling by Orville Hicks; living history; vendors; kid’s activities; fun and games; a World Record attempt; a musical tale of Daniel Boone by author Randell Jones; and a Daniel Boone Look-Alike Contest.
Yep, the Herd is coming, and the event organizers hope the High Country community will come too.
There’s More…
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 Dr. Edwin Arnold Daniel Boone Symposium at ASU and continues that evening with the 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, the festival features the 2nd annual 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. Admission is free. During the event, 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.
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, food and television lovers will flock to Gamekeeper Restaurant, located at 3005 Shull’s Mill Road in Boone, for the 2nd annual 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. Although Fess himself will not be there, 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.
Need More Info?
Click to www.DanielBooneDays.com
Tickets
Symposium (9/4/09): Free, no tickets needed
Wine Dinners (9/4/09): $95 per person (including tax and gratuity). Call 828-963-7400 to make reservations.
Music & Culture Festival (9/5/09): $16 in advance/$20 at door/$20 Boone Family Pass (only between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.). Tickets can be purchased by clicking to www.DanielBooneDays.com or by stopping by the office of High Country Press at 130 N. Depot Street, Monday through Friday between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. The $20 Boone Family Pass is only available at the door on the day of the festival between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.
Daniel Boone Days 2009 Schedule of Events
Dr. Edwin Arnold Daniel Boone Symposium
Friday, September 4
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
ASU Raley Hall Room 1018
Fess Parker Wine Dinner
Friday, September 4
6:00 p.m. or 7:00 p.m.
Gamekeeper Restaurant
Music & Culture Festival
Saturday, September 5
1:00 to 11:00 p.m.
Horn in the West
Community Interest
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Arts & Entertainment
