‘Good to be together’
Brasstown Colorful posters bearing the words “Good to be together” decorated the campus of John C. Campbell Folk School last weekend.
That theme, of course, nodded to the return of the 46th annual Fall Festival for the first time since 2019, following two years of cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
An estimated 10,000 patrons showed up to celebrate what amounted to a kind of grand reopening of the folk school’s Fall Festival, complete with a mix of offerings that included talented local artists, savory foods and live musical and dance performances.
Quilter Zak Foster, the inaugural artist in residence at the Olive’s Porch folk school experience in downtown Murphy, came up with the festival’s tagline.
“That was the absolute perfect slogan for this Fall Festival,” said Anthony Perrone, marketing and communications director for the folk school. “The community needed it, we needed it to happen and it was just great that we all did come together. It was a perfect festival.”
Longtime festival-goer Molly Seaver, a Murphy native who has also lived in Clay County, agreed that it was good to be together with her community once again.
“I’ve been coming to the folk school since I was 16, started dancing here and used to volunteer here on the gates,” Seaver said Sunday. “I love it because this is family, this is coming home.
“If you come here, these are people that are just down the road (from places like) Hayesville. I love that this is our people, that’s my favorite thing about this.”
The two-day event featured ideal fall weather with partly cloudy skies and a high temperature just under 70 degrees Sunday, just days after festival organizers feared storm remnants from Hurricane Ian would cancel the event for a third straight year.
Instead, a mix of warm sun and cool breeze set the stage as scents from kettle corn and funnel cakes wafted through the air. The family atmosphere was filled with toddlers teetering along in front of their families, or being carried on a parent’s shoulders, and plenty of four-legged, furry friends came along for the festivities.
“We were waiting and we were so unsure it was going to happen,” Perrone said. “Later in the week, when we saw the storm shift, it was a blessing, for sure.
“It turned out to be great, the weather was perfect. With vendors, we did have quite a few cancellations due to the storm.”
About 150-175 vendors still set up shop at the festival. Crafts available for purchase included unique birdhouses, tie-dye apparel, various figurines, musical instruments and much more. Performers ranged from Brasstown Morris Dancers to the Folk School Cloggers, and musical acts such as Evie Laden and Keith Terry.
While the event holds a strong appeal for local artists and faithful patrons like Seaver, it also seemed to draw a fair number of newcomers this year.
Lindsey and Stacey Warren, residents of Rabun County, Ga., brought their golden retriever, Scooby-Doo, and mixed-breed, Rae, along with them for their first venture into the Fall Festival.
“We’ve read about it, and we’ve looked at different classes that we’d like to take,” Lindsey said. “So we thought this would be a good opportunity to do both, to go to the fair and see what they’re making there,” Stacey added.
Lindsey said he was interested in photography and iron work, while Stacey said she was drawn to basket-weaving, pie-making and dance.
The event also featured new blood among its vendors. Carrie Keohane, originally from Fort Myers, Fla., set up a booth featuring her fused glass creations.
“We just moved up in December, and I’d always heard about this,” she said. “We’ve had a cabin in Andrews for 35 years, but we were never here at the beginning of October.
“It’s been great, there are a lot of people at this. I’ll do this next year.”