Franklin County—Folklore & Festivals

by Pat Gibson and Lynette Johnson

Rocky Mount and Franklin County Tourism Information

The mountains among which you are driving have secrets, begging to be told. Take a side trip to the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum in Franklin County, southeast of Roanoke, and many of the mountains' secrets will come to light...

The Blue Ridge Institute at Ferrum College promotes the understanding of this region's culture and folklore. It was named by the Virginia General Assembly as the State Center for Blue Ridge Folklore. But it doesn't stop there! The Blue Ridge Farm Museum (part of the Institute) demonstrates the hardscrabble, but productive farm life of these people. Heirloom vegetables (unlike the hybrids found in today's gardens) and historic animal breeds of chicken, sheep, horses, pigs and cattle are found there. Costumed interpreters—usually Ferrum College students working the farm—are eager to share their knowledge.

If farm life isn't for you, how 'bout a swig of some good mountain hooch? Check out the BRI Museum's current exhibit, White Liquor, Blue Ridge Style. On display through March, 2007, the exhibit explores more than a century of moonshining in the Blue Ridge Mountains. A true folk tradition, moonshining flourished under Prohibition. Improvements in technology and transportation broadened the market for white liquor—and provided steady cash income for residents of rural mountain communities, at a time when cash was in very short supply. White Liquor, Blue Ridge Style tells its story through displays of actual, reconstructed stills; photographs; still-makers' tools; and video interviews with retired moonshiners and federal agents. You'll find the exhibit serves up an intoxicating taste of Appalachian social history.

The Blue Ridge Institute is also an important venue on The Crooked Road: Virginia's Heritage Music Trail, which traces the roots of bluegrass and mountain music through southwestern Virginia. Visit the Institute online for a wonderful musical exhibition of Deathly Lyrics: Songs of Virginia Tragedies!

There's much more to the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum, though. If you find yourself in the area on the 4th Saturday in October (In 2006, that's the 28th), take in the annual Blue Ridge Folklife Festival, a one-day celebration of living regional tradition. A Virginia Local Legacy, The New York Times calls it "thoroughly authentic." It has been named on the Top 20 Events in the Southeast list twice by the Southeast Tourism Society.

Nowhere else will you find such an array of old-time customs and competitions. Enjoy three stages, featuring live folk music; artisans; old-time foods; vintage and contemporary quilts; and restored cars and farm machinery. There's even a corndog eating competition! My favorite is the horse pull. What's a horse pull? It's just like a modern tractor pull competition like you'd see on ESPN. Where do you think they got the idea?

Need more to do? Franklin County also boasts a segment of Smith Mountain Lake, a four-season resort community with outdoor recreation and fun for every member of the family.

Get to Franklin County, Ferrum College, and the Blue Ridge Institute by heading east/south on US 220 from Roanoke—it's only a 45 minute drive.

Article text ©2005-2006, Shenandoah Specialty Publishing, LLC.
May be printed for personal use only.

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