Festival returns to Tusculum College April 19-22

Reproduced by Kristen Keefer, a fine arts major

The Old Oak Festival is returning to the Tusculum College campus April 19-22.

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.

“Details on the artisans and musicians scheduled to perform and participate are being finalized, but the dates have been confirmed, and many of the arts events are officially on the calendar,” said Susan D. Vance, a 1991 graduate of Tusculum and associate vice president for Institutional Advancement for the college.

In addition to artist vendors and music performances throughout the day on Friday and Saturday, 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 are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors (60 years and above) and $5 for children 12 years of age and under.

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 will be open throughout the weekend, featuring top student work in a “best of” show for student painting, sculpture and photography.

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.

“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.

On Thursday, April 19, a launch party will be held for the “Tusculum Review,” a 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 who have had work selected for publication will provide readings. The event will begin at 7 p.m. in Chalmers Conference Center in 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 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.

The festival will also feature children’s activities and storytelling performances. A variety of food vendors will also be participating in the festival on Friday and Saturday. A final schedule of performances and events will be released in the coming weeks.

The festival will also feature an outdoor chapel service on Sunday morning outside the Garland Library.

There is no fee to attend the festival; however, some of the individual events and activities may have associated fees. 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.