Palette of the plateau: Highlands Food & Wine Festival celebrates 10 years
The Highlands Food & Wine Festival will return Nov. 13-16.
File photo
Each year, I find myself covering a wide array of cultural festivals across Western North Carolina and greater Southern Appalachia — from live music to culinary delights, the sacred arts to outdoor recreation.
And as the last of the foliage falls to the ground, firewood being tossed into the stove on a cozy night in the mountains, the culmination of my annual travels has become one of my favorite destinations anywhere in this region, which is the Highlands Food & Wine Festival. Taking place Nov. 13-16 in the heart of the storied mountain town, HFWF features world-class executive chefs alongside some of the most talented musicians on the planet.
It’s fresh oysters and lobster on Main Street in front of a massive stage radiating some of the finest rock and soul music you’ve ever heard. It’s a glass of wine, delectable finger foods and soaring bluegrass music in Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park. It’s juicy steaks and artisan pizza at sunset on the patio at the Skyline Lodge. It’s a nightcap and Americana melodies next to the fireplace at The Ruffled Grouse Tavern in the Highlander Mountain House.
A decade into its existence, the HFWF represents the essence of what it means to gather and celebrate one another with gusto. Drinks held high and in unison of the moment at-hand. This juncture of people, places and things that intersect but once a year. This fleeting moment of beauty, taste and sound, flying by you like a shooting star across the heavens into the unknown night.
Below are excerpts from renowned artists I’ve been able to converse with in preparation for their performances at the HFWF over the years — these you-had-to-be-there musical moments only found every November in Highlands.
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Smoky Mountain News: In terms of positivity, you really radiate that onstage. Where are we right now as a society?
Langhorne Slim: With what I do for a living, as a song and dance man, I’m given the opportunity to step into that. And where we are, as a country and in the world, I’ve never felt the desire or the need to step into that as much as I do now. For me, a lot of things seem and feel broken, and they probably always have.
But I think if we lose hope, then we’re truly screwed. It’s difficult to have hope and to have optimism all of the time. And it’s more difficult for some people than others to travel around, to get to talk and meet with all different types of people — people that might vote a different way than you or root for a different team.
But I have that luxury through what I do. And I truly believe that most people are sweet on the inside. And we’re conditioned in many ways, in my opinion, to be hard and tough on the outside. I find that to be a societal tragedy.
What I do, through music and my life, is to try to be vulnerable, embrace the strength in connection, and in vulnerability and in sensitivity. I believe the purest strengths lie not in picking on people that might think differently than you do.
SMN: You’ve written these personal melodies about love lost and love found. How has your definition of love changed or remained the same as you’ve gotten older?
Lilly Hiatt: As corny as this may sound, a big thing I’ve realized about love is that if I can’t love myself, it’s really hard to be loving to other people in the way I’d like to be. And it seems kind of indulgent in a way, “Oh, when you love yourself, you don’t have to think about yourself so much and fixate on what’s wrong with you.” I feel more available to others [when I love myself]. It’s like, “Okay, stop hating yourself, so you can be kind to everybody else.
SMN: What has the culmination of your experiences thus far — onstage, on the road and simply daily life itself — taught you about what it means to be a human being?
Larry Keel: It teaches me to have compassion and to be kind. You never really know what anybody’s going through at any given second. I think you should try hard to help somebody out along the way or bring a smile or like I say at a show, just “come out and see us and forget about your troubles” — let’s all get on a good brain wave and have fun for a minute.
Want to go?
Featuring world-class culinary treats and marquee musical acts, the annual Highlands Food & Wine Festival will be held Nov. 13-16 at various venues within the community.
Nikki Lane will play Highlands next weekend. File photo
• Thursday, Nov. 13: “Grand Tasting” with The Psycodelics at The Bascom Center for the Visual Arts (7-10 p.m.)
• Friday, Nov. 14: “Smoke Signals” with Paul McDonald & The Mourning Doves and Railroad Earth at Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park (noon to 3 p.m.). “Vine in the Pines” at the Highlands Biological Station (4-5:30 p.m.). “Her Voice, Her Vintage” with Nikki Lane at the Skyline Lodge (4:30-6 p.m.).
• Saturday, Nov. 15: “Main Event” with Nikki Lane and The Wallflowers on Main Street (noon to 3:30 p.m.). “Rock & Roe” at the Hutchinson House (5:30-6:30 p.m.). “The Barn Ramble” at the Flat Mountain Farm (7-9:30 p.m.).
• Sunday, Nov. 16: “Shot at Redemption” with Blind Boys of Alabama at The Bascom Center for the Visual Arts (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.).
For more information, a full schedule of events and/or to purchase tickets, click on highlandsfoodandwine.com.
