Ready for PlottFest?

The annual PlottFest celebration will take place from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 17, Maggie Valley Festival Grounds.

A weekend event celebrating the history and heritage of the Plott Hound, the official state dog of North Carolina — a breed originated by the Plott family that gained worldwide notoriety in the Great Smokies. 

Do you like strawberries?

The 23rd annual Strawberry Jam festival will be held May 17-18 at Darnell Farms in Bryson City.

The Darnell family celebrates their locally grown strawberry crop.

Haywood Community Band launches 2025 season

The Haywood Community Band (HCB) will kick off its 2025 season with a special concert, a “Celebration of Song and Dance,” at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at the Calvary Road Baptist Church in Maggie Valley. 

Bryson City community jam

A community jam will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 15, on the front patio of the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.

Anyone with a guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer or anything unplugged is invited to join. Singers are also welcomed to join in or you can just stop by and listen. 

Whole Bloomin’ Thing Festival

The 22nd annual Whole Bloomin’ Thing Festival will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 10, in the Historic Frog Level District of Waynesville.

Children’s activities, local growers and artisans/crafters, flowering baskets, herbs, outdoor decor, live music and more.

'Doc Watson: A Life in Music'

Eddie Huffman will share his new book, “Doc Watson: A Life in Music.” and also be accompanied by musician Jerad Davis at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 27, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. 

Blues in the 21st: A conversation with Jimmy Vivino

When it comes to the vast, vibrant landscape of American blues guitarists, few six-string aces have had as varied and as illustrious a career over the last 30 years as that of Jimmy Vivino. 

To here from there: 'An Appalachian Evening' welcomes Missy Raines

With her latest album, “Highlander,” bluegrass/Americana icon Missy Raines takes inventory of where she stands at this current juncture in her storied career — this melodic ode to her native West Virginia, which simultaneously serves as an ideal prism of time and space Raines peers through into the unknowns of tomorrow. 

Dine Out to Lift Up with Waynesville Rotary Club

The Waynesville Rotary Club will offer a Poor Man’s Supper from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 6 at the First United Methodist Church to benefit Waynesville Rotary community projects.

Up Moses Creek: ‘Blow wind like you’re never gonna blow again’

On Saturday morning, Dec. 14, Becky reminded me that she was going to hear Darren Nicholson and his band play at the Tuckasegee Trading Company’s annual holiday open house, and she hoped I’d go too.

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