Calendar of Events

FOR RELEASE ON: September 10, 2021
Contact: Zachary Greene
Phone: 865-585-1710
Email: zachary.greene@lmunet.edu

The 4.5th annual Mountain Fiesta will run from Thursday, September 30 to Sunday, October 3. The Mountain Fiesta is a local festival that strives to harmonize community and celebrate Latin American and Appalachian culture within the Cumberland Gap region. The logo of The Mountain Fiesta represents the spirit of the event. Corn, being central to both cultures (think tortillas and cornbread), is the centerpiece of the logo. The cornhusks in the logo contain Appalachian quilt patterns and indigenous textile patterns from Latin America.

One of the highlights of this year’s festival is the MacArthur Award Winner Baldemar Velásquez. Baldemar was invited to attend, educate, and perform folk music that animated decades of work protecting farmers and farm workers. He is an organizer who was raised by migrant workers and eventually founded the Farm Labor Organizing Community (FLOC). He has dedicated his heart and soul to helping farmers and migrant farmworkers achieve fairer contracts and increased securities. He formed a band, the Aguila Negra Band (Black Eagle Band), and has used all the earnings produced by the sales to fund FLOC.

Thursday’s musical performances include a female songwriter round-robin led by Carla Gover and Paulina Vazquez followed by the lively sound of the CornMaiz String Band. The main event, which is the Saturday street festival most people are familiar with, will include food, family activities and games, art and cultural exhibits, musical performances, free professional dance classes, and vendors of all kinds. Saturday’s eight-hour lineup includes local artists Michael Jones, Daniel Chumley, Caleb Carney, and the charming Danielle Tennessee. Coming from out of town are Baldemar Velasquez and the Aguila Negra Band, Appalatin, Wayne Graham, Joe Troop (of the Grammy-nominated band Che Apalache), and Dale Ann Bradley (Grammy nominee and 5-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year) as the closing headline act. Sunday morning in Berkau Park there will be a bluegrass and gospel “superjam” where many of the festival musicians will come together for a casual, old-fashioned pickin’.

J. Frank White Academy’s Spanish teacher, Zachary Greene, has organized this event for five years now with many generations of students by his side. The current festival organizers express their gratitude for the students who came before them. This year’s student organizers are Caleb Carney, Amanda Kotlar, Lilly Stubblefield, Jaymin Huddleston, Tony Collingsworth, Jacob Yeary, Blake Stoner, Micah Harrington, Cameron Tomfohrde, Charley Leach, Ryan Saylor, and Samuel Tompkins. Special thanks to recent graduates Tanner Brush, Olivia Nichols, and Patrick Moore, who planned the 2020 Mountain Fiesta that was cancelled due to COVID-19.

If you would like more information about this topic, please call Zach Greene at 865-585-1710 or email zachary.greene@lmunet.edu
https://www.facebook.com/TheMountainFiestaCG/