Department of Conservation and Recreation
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Department of Conservation and Recreation
Media inquiries: Please contact Dave Neudeck, dave.neudeck@dcr.virginia.gov, 804-786-5053.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: May 29, 2007
Contact:
Grayson Highlands State Park to host two days of festivities
Wayne C. Henderson Music Festival June 16
Mountain Culture and Folk Festival June 17
(MOUTH OF WILSON, Va.) - Grayson Highlands State Park hosts a weekend of traditional music celebrating the region and the nation with two different festivals, June 16 and 17.
Bluegrass great Doc Watson will headline the 13th annual Wayne C. Henderson
Music Festival and Guitar Competition, Saturday, June 16.
Festival hours are 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. with children's activities from noon
to 6 p.m. Admission is $10 per person. Children under 12 with an adult are
admitted free. Visitors should bring lawn chairs.
Recipient of the National Medal of Arts and five Grammy Awards, 84-year-old Doc Watson is a legendary performer who blends his traditional Appalachian musical roots with bluegrass, country, gospel and blues to create a unique style captured on more than 50 recordings in a career spanning four decades.
The day also includes Randy and Debra Jean Sheets, the Looping Brothers, Doug Smith, Slate Mountain Ramblers and a performance by Wayne Henderson and friends. The guitar competition begins at 10:30 a.m., and performances begin at 11:30 a.m. In addition to the live music, visitors can enjoy the parks playground, visitor center and trails.
The day is sponsored by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Wayne C. Henderson Music Festival and Guitar Competition Committee. For information about the festival, call (276) 579-7092 or visit www.waynehenderson.org.
The next day, June 17, the park hosts the Mountain Culture and Folk Festival celebrating Virginia's 400th Anniversary. The festival features live bluegrass, old-time and folk music, storytelling, and arts and crafts.
The festival is from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is a $6 parking fee.
Grayson Highlands State Park is in Grayson County on U.S. 58 between Independence and Damascus. To reach the park, take I-81 to Marion, follow Route 16 to Volney and then go west on U.S. 58 for eight miles.
Although the parks full service campgrounds with water and electrical hookups are sold out for the weekend, they remain open through Oct. 31, 2007, and primitive campsites are open until Dec. 1, 2007. For camping reservations, or for campground or cabin reservations at nearby Hungry Mother State Park in Marion, call the Reservation Center at 1-800-933-PARK or visit www.dcr.virginia.gov.
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