The Old Oak Festival is returning to the Tusculum College campus April 19-22, and will include artists from a variety of genres, as well as live music ranging from blues to blue grass.
The arts and music festival will span four days and will feature something for everyone, including music, art, theater and poetry, as well as gallery and museum exhibits on the campus of Tusculum College.
“We have had a tremendous response from the community regarding the revival of the Old Oak Festival on the Tusculum campus,” said Susan Vance, associate vice president for Institutional Advancement at Tusculum and coordinator of the event committee.
“We are expecting a wide variety of artists, including painters, craftsmen and sculptors, whose work will be available for purchase. Arts will include pottery, woodcrafts and folk art,” said Vance. In addition, on stage, the festival will present the sounds of the region, with a wide variety of music from bluegrass to jazz to local vocalists and musicians.
The festival runs from Thursday, April 19 through Sunday, April 22. Activities will be going on all four days; however, vendors, artisans and musicians will be performing and have their wares available for sale Friday and Saturday. For complete schedule of events please visit the website at www.oldoakfestival.org.
Artisans whose work will be on display during the festival include Collins Lane Art which specializes in wheel-thrown pottery for use in baking and serving, as well as glass assemblies such as the tree of life and abstract places using silver, bronze and copper wire enhancements.
The Evergreen Woodcarvers will demonstrate the art of woodcarving and provide lessons for those who wish to learn the skill.
Art vendors vary from images painted on feathers by Buckthorn Artistic Originals to Nick Hankins mixed media paintings, which include oil, watercolor and acrylic.
Other vendors are Tusculum College art students; Richard and Freda Donoho, artists in glass; Jimmy and Judy Rader, artists in wood; Joan Beaver, pencil and oil prints; Broyles Oak Rockers; Ben Clark’s ink prints; Josh Swatzell, photography; Crafty Lady, crochet rugs; Betty Goudy, oil paintings and bird houses; W.T. Hines, cooper (metal arts); Light Images, photography; Channa Payne, jewelry; Walnut Ridge Llamas, spinning and weaving; Rew Art, acrylic painting, and Mike Willis, wood items.
Music held at the Old Oak festival will feature acoustic rock, blues, blue grass, electric rock, R&B and gospel. Musicians participating in the festival include the Tusculum College Jazz band under the direction of David A. Price, Stephen Winslow, Michael Cable and his Hot Mountain Caravan, Zack Wampler, Wayne and Jean Bean, Lonesome Pine, Shiloh Rd, Mike Joy, The Kevin Wilder Group, The Scat Kats, Mud Bugs, Jamie D and the B Movie Blues, Sandy Ray and the Cold Shoulders, The Madisons, Boot Leg Turn and The Foundation.
There will be three performances during the festival of “The Diary of Anne Frank,” presented by Theatre-at-Tusculum. Show times are Friday and Saturday, April 20 and 21 at 7 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. Tickets may be reserved in advance by calling 423-789-1620.
The play is based on the diary of Anne Frank, a young Jewish teen whose family is in hiding in German-occupied Holland. The diary covers a two-year span and is a both a coming-of-age story and a peek into the daily existence of a family in hiding during the Holocaust.
The college’s Allison Gallery at the Rankin House will be open throughout the weekend, featuring top student work in a “best of” show for student painting, sculpture and photography.
Food vendors will be on campus and will include the Pioneer Perk; John Price, hotdogs and Polish sausage; Ella Price, strawberry shortcake and hot fudge cake; Debbie Haney, gyros and phillly cheese steak sandwiches; Rural Resources, health food including veggie wraps; Karly’s Kettlecorn, and the Creamy Cup offering coffee and ice cream.
The festival is being coordinated by a committee of college and community representatives who are working to bring the historical event back as a major arts and music event in the East Tennessee region.
On Thursday, April 19, a launch party will be held for the “Tusculum Review,” the literary journal produced by faculty and students. The journal features works of top creative fiction, non-fiction, art and poetry from writers across the country. Special guest readers are essayist Katie Fallon and poet Gary McDowell. The event will begin at 7 p.m. in the Shulman Atrium.
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 special Civil War exhibit, “Scholars then Soldiers” will be featured during the weekend of the Old Oak Festival at the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library. Exhibit hours are Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The festival will also feature children’s activities and storytelling performances, as well as a chapel service on Sunday morning at the Garland Library.
There is no fee to attend the festival. Art vendor hours will be Friday from noon until 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. For more information, contact Vance at 423-636-7303.
Parking will be available off Shiloh Road and across the Erwin Highway. No alcohol will be sold or permitted on campus.
No pets allowed on campus during the festival, however, service animals are welcome.