- Heritage Days
of October each year. Organized around a harvest and history theme, the festival began in 1978.
Early history
Hawkins County Heritage Days began in October 1978 when a small crowd gathered despite a downpour on the
Courthouse Square in downtownRogersville, Tennessee to help raise funds for the nascent Rogersville Heritage Association.The organization, whose purpose is to "preserve, protect, promote, and celebrate heritage of
Rogersville, Tennessee ," envisioned an annual event to commemorate the historic town and to emulate the nineteenth century harvest festivals that Rogersville had seen after theAmerican Civil War .The festival today
Since its humble beginnings, Heritage Days has grown to an annual estimated crowd of almost 40,000 persons, more than six times the population of Tennessee's second-oldest town.
The event is still sponsored by the Rogersville Heritage Association, and it still gathers artisans, craftsmen and women, and entertainers to perpetuate the mountain arts and way of life that have slowly vanished from the hills of
East Tennessee .The
Southeast Tourism Society , a regional promoter of tourism and excellence in tourism programming, recognized Heritage Days as a "Top Twenty Event in the Southeast for October." The festival has been a multiple winner at Tennessee Festivals and Events.Unofficial homecoming
Because of its popularity with locals and tourists, Heritage Days has become something of an unofficial homecoming for people from the Rogersville
diaspora , and area hotels and motels are usually full several years in advance for the second, full weekend in October.Heritage Days admittance is free to the three day event, though visitors will probably want to remember their wallets to shop the more than 150 juried artisans and crafters and sample the food booths.
In addition to the craft booths, the centerpiece of the festival, several stages waft Appalachian music on the air while local and regional dancers continue the Tennessee tradition of
clogging .Other attractions include:
*Quilt show
*Needlework show
*Antique farm equipment demonstration
*Antique car show
*Children's Heritage Parade
*the Young'uns Yard, an area for children and teenagers
*Heritage skills demonstrators (including blacksmiths, butter-churners, and the like)
*Heritage re-enactors
*Civil War re-enactors
*Special sales and events by local merchants
*Children's Heritage Train
*Storytellers' stage
*10K run
*Chili Cook-offee also
*
Rogersville, Tennessee
*Hale Springs Inn External links
* [http://www.rogersvilleheritage.org Rogersville Heritage Association] , the festival's sponsor
* [http://www.rogersvilleheritage.org/RHA/details.asp?ID=2 Updated information] on the upcoming Heritage Days
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