Kids Get in FREE at Southern Highland Handicraft Guild Fair

This is a personal favorite – the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild Fair. The 62nd season of this bi-annual fair takes place at the Asheville Civic Center on  July 16 – 19 and October 15 – 18.

I promise you will NOT be disappointed as you wind your way among a myriad of booths offering quality hand crafted goods. It’s also a great way to see some of the artisans doing demos and to actually talk with them about their craft. Here’s a list of July exhibitors.

Price of admission is $7, and it’s FREE for kids under the age of 12!

Also, to keep up with fair information follow @folkartcenter on Twitter!

Gem Mining at Emerald Village

This morning my kids and I headed off on a rock hunting adventure. We had heard that the Crabtree Emerald Mine in Little Switzerland is open (for a fee) to anyone who wants to come in and dig around to see what they can find.

We headed to Emerald Village where I signed waiver forms for the three of us and paid the fee. It is $20 a day per person, BUT it’s FREE for kids 12 and under. Since my kids are 9 and 11, I was able to get a bargain! Of course, I didn’t think to bring tools, so I wound up renting a set for another $20. The set included a bucket, goggles, shovel, pick axe, hammer, two trowels, a hand rake and a pick.

The women at the counter cautioned about copperheads in the area and also advised me that the mine site, while only about 4 miles away, was truly out in nature — no bathroom facilites or food services out there.

We spent about 2 hours digging around the pit to no avail. A seasoned rock hound who was digging at the site showed us some emeralds he had found in order for us to see what we were looking for. The kids got hot and tired before we found any. I think their enthusiasm waned the longer we went without finding anything.

So, we headed back to Emerald Village and bought salted buckets of gemstones to sift and wash in the flume. Now, this was really fun! My kids found a wide range of gemstones in their bucket: amethyst, sodalite, rose quartz, smoky quartz, garnets, rubies, emeralds, tourmaline, adventurine, rainbow moonstone, jasper, sunstone, and others that I can’t recall at the moment.

My 9-year-old daughter wanted to find a tiger’s eye stone. And she did. It’s small, but it’s her prized possession of the trip.

I found the act of sifting through the stones truly relaxing and it put me into the “now.” I became focused on the act of searching for stones and any other thought (or worry about deadlines, etc.) simply dissolved.

The sky was an amazing lapis lazuli color. The weather can only be described as the ultimate summer day — not too hot, not cold, not humid, not buggy. Just bliss. Simply bliss.

I rank the day as one of our most fun ever, and it gave me a top ranking from my kids who said: “You’re the best mom in the world for bringing us here.”

Dads Visit Biltmore Estate FREE on June 21

Biltmore Estate has a special Father’s Day treat. When dads visit on Sunday, June 21, they get in free if they are accompanied by one other paying adult. Pick up dad’s free ticket at Biltmore’s Welcome Center.

Street Dances in Hendersonville, NC

In addition to the Friday night “Music on Main” concerts in Hendersonville, you can also kick up your heels in town on Monday nights.

The 91st Annual Street Dance kicks off July 6 and runs every Monday night through August 31. The dances will be held 7 to 9 p.m. at Visitors Information Center, 201 South Main Street.

The Street Dance comes alive with people square dancing and clogging to a band playing traditional bluegrass music. Special appearances by area clogging teams make for a entertaining, foot stomping evening.

Lively instructions are given to the dancers by a local caller. At 6:30 PM, caller Walt Puckett will teach audience members some basic square dancing, such as the Right Hand Across, Open the Garden Gate, and the Shoe Fly Swing moves mean in traditional Appalachian square dancing.

Bring a chair, but leave your pets and alcohol at home. FREE Event.

Free Music on Friday Nights in Hendersonville, N.C.

More FREE music this summer. The 11th Annual Music On Main Street presents a concert every Friday evening from June 5 through August 28 at the Visitors Information Center, located at 201 South Main Street in Hendersonville, NC.

Bring a chair, but leave your pets at home. Also, no alcohol. The music runs from 7 to 9 p.m.

Click here for the complete schedule.

FREE Storyfest in Hendersonville, NC

The first Do Tell Storyfest is set for July 11, 2009 from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. in downtown Hendersonville, N.C. The FREE event will be a day filled with kids activities, laughter, short stories and tall tales.

The main venue features family storytelling by acclaimed folklorists
Louise Bailey, Candler Willis’ Abe Lincoln, Bad Hair Williams. Lloyd
Arneach and Heather Nicely. Performances times are from 1-5 pm. A
workshop titled “Collecting Personal Stories” will be held from 11:00
to noon. This event will also celebrate 100 years of 4-H on the lawn of the Historic Courthouse all afternoon. 4-H alumni are invited to a special cakecutting ceremony at noon at the Historic Courthouse and 4-Hers will stage family activities from 11-5pm.

Children story times will be held at the Heritage Museum from 3-5 pm
with tellers Helen King and Elena Diana. Heather Nicely and 4-Her’s
will entertain children at Mountain Lore Bookstore from 1-3 pm.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

11:00 – Noon Workshop with Jim Clark NC Archives -Collecting Personal Stories

1:00 – 6:00 Family Storytelling with Louise Bailey, Candler Willis, Heather Nicely, Lloyd Arneach and Badhair Williams

1:00 – 3:00 Children’s storytelling by Heather Nicely at Mountain Lore Books

1:00 – 5:00 Story
Tour on Main Street at Black Bear, Living Room Cafe’, Arts Council, The
Revolving Arts Gallery, and Piscasso’s Café (See schedule or website
for details)

3:00 – 5:00 Children’s Stories at the Heritage Museum by Elena Diana and Helen King

7:00 – 9:30 Storytelling concert for teens and adults at Piscasso’s Cafe “The Mountains Will Remember Us”

For more details:  www.dotellfestival.org

White Squirrel Festival

The town of Brevard, NC will be hopping this weekend with the 6th annual White Squirrel Festival. Check the website for the lineup of lots of FREE music, fun, and of course, attention on the area’s famous albino squirrels.

The Southeast Tourism Society has named this festival a Top 20 Event for the month of May 2009. Plus, Asheville Citizen-Times readers voted the festival “Best Spring Music Festival in Western North Carolina” in a 2008 poll.

Carl Sandburg Folk Music Festival

Looking for some free entertainment on Memorial Day, May 25, 2009? Head to Flat Rock, NC for the annual Carl Sandburg Folk Music Festival.

The event honors Carl Sandburg’s contribution to America’s written history through his collection of folk music found in The American Songbag. The festival features folk musicians from around the country.

Check the schedule for details.

Clay Day at the Folk Art Center

Set your calendar for June 6, 2009 for a fun FREE family event at the Folk Art Center. Clay Day runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This event features demonstrations of throwing on the potter’s wheel, hand building and surface design. There are hands-on activities for kids and adults.

FREE Tuesdays at the Cradle of Forestry

The Cradle of Forestry, located on Highway 276 near Brevard, N.C., offers FREE admission for EVERYONE on Tuesdays! It’s also FREE all the time for kids ages 15 and younger, except during special events like Smoky Bear’s Birthday Party, which is scheduled for August 8, 2009 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission on that day is $3.00 for kids 15 and under, and $6.00 for everyone older than 16.

Regular admission rates for visitors older than 16 are $5.00 per person. It’s a great place to explore!