By Lorrie Ross
Staff Writer
There’s nothing like a summertime festival in the mountains, especially one which has live entertainment, arts and crafts and fresh food. The Clay County Festival on the Square is celebrating 43 years. It seems time has made it bigger and better.
More than 75 vendors have registered to show their wares at the popular event held in Hayesville’s Historic Courthouse Square in the shadow of the Beal Center, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The 2024 Festival on the Square fun begins around 7 p.m. Friday July 12 with a street dance and live music by Joe Average Band. Bring along your dancing shoes and a chair for watching. Be there early because downtown streets in front of Chinquapin's and Hayesville Town Hall will close a couple of hours before the music begins.
From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday July 13 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday July 14 artists of various mediums will display their arts and crafts. There are many local artists, as well as some who arrive from all over the southeast with favorites such as jewelry, soap, fiber arts, candles, pottery, photography and paintings. Glass items, embroidered pillows, gourds, whimsical art, dog treats, wooden signs, handmade leather items, knives and whiskey barrel furniture are frequently available, along with numerous other arts and crafts. The event can get crowded so no pets allowed on the square during the festival, only service dogs.
Spend some time enjoying the free Appalachian entertainment in the gazebo all weekend. Entertainment kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 13 with crowd favorites, the cloggers of the John C. Campbell Folk School. Afterwards, the foot-stomping continues with:
• Wyatt Espalin at 12 p.m.
• Rob Tiger at 1 p.m.
• Cornbread Ted at 2 p.m.
• Troy Underwood at 3 p.m.
On Sunday, July 14 the entertainment schedule is Colton James at 12 p.m., followed by Emolyn Liden and Friends at 2 p.m.
Make sure to bring your appetite because The Copper Door is providing the hot fresh-cooked food both days. Once again, food being sold will include barbecue, wraps, baked beans, slaw, Mexican corn, bratwursts, hotdogs and desserts. Grab some food to take home or sit in the shade at tables already waiting for festival-goers to eat on-site. Iced tea, sodas and water are sold both days as long as they last. Face-painting, kids’ crafts and more, are frequent options for little ones to have fun.
The event is sponsored by the Clay County Historical & Arts Council, which celebrates 50 years as a nonprofit in 2024. Admission to the Festival on the Square and all entertainment is free, but food and drinks are sold to benefit CCHAC, which supports the Old Jail Museum and various art and history events for the schools and community. CCHAC receives support from the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural and Natural Resources.
For details visit: www.clayhistoryartsnc.org.