The maker of this clock will be among the vendors at the Old Oak Festival.
The 2013 Old Oak Festival will feature fine arts and crafts from more than 70 vendors as the revived festival makes its return to the Tusculum College campus April 19-21.
The arts and music festival will span three days and will feature something for everyone, including music, art, theater and creative writing, as well as gallery and museum exhibits on the Tusculum College campus.
The arts and crafts show will offer everything from watercolor paintings to handmade quilts.
“This year is a dramatic increase in the number of fine arts and crafts vendors who will participate in the festival,” said Susan D. Crum, associate vice president of institutional advancement who is coordinating the event for the college. “Visitors will have a wide variety of items to choose from, including custom jewelry, wood crafts, handmade furniture and sculpture.”
Other items include barn wood frames, walking sticks, handmade children’s clothing, baskets, candles and many handmade items. Vendors will be both indoors and outside.
Sponsors for this year’s event include The Greeneville Sun, WQUT-Radio, WXSM Radio, WIVK Radio, WNML Radio, WOKI Radio, 106.1 The River, Holston Valley Broadcasting, WJHL Daytime Tri-Cities, Morristown Radio Group, Merle FM Radio, WVEK Radio, WKPT, WTFM, Kingsport Times-News, WGRV Radio, WIKQ Radio, WSMG Radio and WCYB-TV.
In addition to arts, the festival will feature a number of local and regional writers. Participating authors include Joe Tennis, Emory Raxter, Ray Rowney, Lisa Hall, Bruce Stafford, Matilda Green, the Bachmans (P.B. and Amanda), Keith Bartlett, Bob Laws, Wayne Zurl, George Sample and Susan D. Crum. Copies of the Tusculum Review will also be available for purchase.
Storytelling has been added to the festival this year, with everything from Mother Goose tales to Cherokee and Appalachian tales. Storytellers on the agenda include Molly Catron, Linda Poland, Pam Miller, Jeff Straton, Madge Rohrer, Marjorie Shaefer, Judy “Butterfuly” Farlow, Leon Overbay, Kate Agmann and Saundra Kelley.
In theater, there will be three performances during the festival of “5 X 10,” written by students and Wayne Thomas, chair of the Department of Fine Arts and associate professor of English. Show times are 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, April 19 and 20, and 2 p.m. on Sunday.
“5 X 10” presents five, 10-minute plays. The shows will be performed in the Behan Arena Theatre in the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Center. The plays will be under the direction of Thomas and Frank Mengel, Arts Outreach technical director and instructor of theater.
This pine basket is one of the many types of handmade items that will be featured during the three-day festival.
The Clem Allison Gallery at the Rankin House will feature the work Amanda Hood, visiting assistant professor of art at East Tennessee State University. Hood’s exhibition will be in the gallery April 15 – 24. Hood’s work is featured on the cover of this year’s Tusculum Review. On Saturday, April 20, a reception will be held for Hood, which will be paired with the annual Curtis-Owens Literary readings, featuring students J. Phillip Reed, a senior from Florence, S.C., and Ben Sneyd, a senior from Unicoi. Reed and Sneyd won the literary prizes this year. The reception and readings will be held on the Rankin House lawn at 4 p.m.
There will be a Tusculum Review Launch Party on Friday, April 19, at 4 p.m. in the Shulman Atrium. This event will feature the poet Nate Pritts and Jan Matthews, visiting assistant professor of English.
On Saturday, April 20, Tusculum College will host a reception for visiting artist Amanda Hood. This will be paired with the annual Curtis-Owens Literary readings, featuring students J. Phillip Reed, a senior from Florence, S.C., and Ben Sneyd, a senior from Unicoi. Reed and Sneyd won the literary prizes this year. The reception and readings will be held on the Rankin House lawn at 4 p.m.
The Big Box experience will be held in the Pioneer Gym continuously during festival hours. The Big Box project is an exhibition of video art created by Chris Jacek, assistant professor of digital media, and students in the digital media department. In the Big Box experience, projection is used to create an enclosed video room that offers both surround sound and surround vision.
The Big Box experience is free of charge.
“On stage, the festival will present the sounds of the region with a wide variety of music from bluegrass to jazz to regional and local vocalists and musicians,” said Crum. Music will include bluegrass, rock, gospel, jazz, folk, contemporary Christian and acoustic performances.
For the younger crowd, there will be two nights of dancing. Friday night will feature a Silent Disco and Saturday a Dubstep concert. Both will be held from 7-10 p.m. in Chalmers Conference Center in the Niswonger Commons.
Both the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library and the Doak House Museum will be open to visitors during the festival and will have special activities planned for adults and children.
A variety of materials from wood to llama wool, above, will be on display in the booths.
The festival will also feature children’s activities including face painting, frontier-era toys and games and a llama exhibit.
A variety of food will be offered. Expected this year are vendors selling pretzels, hotdogs, corn dogs, kettle korn, strawberry shortcake, ice cream, pizza, baked goods, healthy wraps, spiral-cut French fries, barbecue and more.
At 2 p.m. on Saturday, officials from the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council will be on hand to recognize the Tusculum College old oak tree as an official historic tree. The large, white-oak tree that the festival is named for has officially been added to the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council’s Tennessee Landmark and Historic Tree Register.
An old-time outdoor church service will be conducted by a circuit rider on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. The service will re-create the feel of the frontier church experience. The service is open to the public and will be followed by traditional and contemporary gospel music performances throughout the day.
There is no fee to attend the festival. Hours will be Friday from noon until 9 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. and Sunday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at 423-636-7303.
Bring a lawn chair and enjoy the entertainment. Service animals are welcome; however, no pets allowed. Coolers and alcohol are also prohibited.
For updates and more information, visit the website at www.oldoakfestival.org or on Facebook at www.facebook/OldOakFestival.