Join the Frostburg Community in Celebrating its Unique Culture for the Appalachian Festival

From Thursday, Sept. 19 to Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019, the Frostburg community will come together to celebrate the Appalachian Festival. The festival acknowledges the unique culture and diversity in this region. Dr. Kara Rogers Thomas gave more insight on to expect from this year’s Appalachian Festival in a sit down with The Bottom Line. 

What is the Appalachian Festival?

“It is a three-day event, that is a celebration of all that makes this region unique. The big part of the festival happens on Saturday and at that festival, from 10 o’clock in the morning until 6 o’clock, you’ll find musical performances with traditional music from this area, dance performances, and workshops. There are artisans with artists showcasing their work and workshops on medicine. We’ve got a songwriter workshop this year and storytelling, we also have a number of community organizations that are going to be there to create awareness on what they do and many presentations for upcoming projects.”

How impactful has the festival been on the Frostburg Community?

“I think it’s been a very positive influence on Frostburg. One of the things I think it’s done in the time that I’ve been here is it helped us to see our Appalachian identity as being something to celebrate and not being something to be reluctant or shameful of and I think that’s really important. It’s allowed students at FSU to see what the greater region has to offer because often times our students aren’t from Appalachia and this is our opportunity to show the region where they’re now living and what some of the distinctive traits and characteristics from this region are. I think that’s been really valuable. It’s helped to bridge this town divide that we sometimes get in Frostburg because it brings in our student population as well with our locals. They’re all mixing and mingling and having a great time at the festival, so hopefully, it begins to break down potential barriers.”

From all of your experiences as being the coordinator of the Appalachian Festival, how do you feel about the festival overall?

“It is an incredible amount of work, but it’s work that I take great pride in. The week of the festival to be entirely honest about it, I will have nightmares every night about throwing a party and nobody showing up, or about a hurricane hitting and not knowing what to do or tents falling, you know all of those kinds of thing I can’t control. Every year I always wonder if I really want to do this to myself again. But, then the festival comes and it’s always so incredible, the music and the art and the dance, the food, and the stories and the community collaborations that come from the festival is just a wonderful experience that I probably wouldn’t trade for anything.”

Dr. Rogers Thomas also broke down a lot of the activities that will take place throughout the three days of the festival. On Thursday Sept. 19 at 7 p.m., there will be a film festival in the Frostburg Palace Theatre. Two films will be showcased: the first film, We Are Bluegrass, is a joint collaboration between the Delfest Foundation and the Allegany Arts Council about locals keeping the Appalachian heritage alive with bluegrass music, and the second film, Hillbilly, focuses on life in the Appalachia. Other activities include a symposium on Friday at 1 p.m. in the Upper Quad and a Capstone concert featuring Dom Flemons, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Frostburg Palace Theatre.

For more information about FSU’s Annual Appalachian Festival, visit https://www.frostburg.edu/annual-events/afestival/ or email Dr. Kara Rogers Thomas at krogersthomas@frostburg.edu.