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A silver celebration: Appalachian Heritage Festival commemorates anniversary with free event series

By Tabitha Johnston - Chronicle Staff | Sep 17, 2021

Linda Lay and the Springfield Exit will perform bluegrass music at the 25th Annual Appalachian Heritage Festival. Courtesy photo

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Along with celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, Shepherd University will be celebrating a silver anniversary on Sept. 25.

The Appalachian Heritage Festival has spent the last 25 years introducing thousands of community members, students and schoolchildren to Appalachia’s diverse cultural traditions.

“It has been an honor to broaden our community’s understanding of the rich diversity found in our region and to place it in context of American history and culture,” said AHF Director Rachael Meads.

According to a festival press release, the anniversary will be celebrated by opening all events, including the showcase concert and Writer-in-Residence events, for free to the public. Face masks are required to be worn to all indoor events held on Shepherd University’s campus.

The festival was started to introduce the Eastern Panhandle community to the traditions and culture of West Virginia and the greater region, beyond the stereotypical portrayals often found in pop culture. Over the years, the event has featured more than 70 musicians, poets, writers and dancers, including nationally recognized cultural ambassadors like Jean Ritchie, John Cephas, Walker Calhoun, Ralph Stanley and Hazel Dickens.

This year’s program will be no different, featuring West Virginia old-time musician and National Heritage Award-recipient John Morris; Freedom Songs from the African-American church from Dana Foddrell; music of the original Carter Family; and bluegrass from Linda Lay and Springfield Exit.

“This is really a celebration, not just of Appalachia, but also of West Virginia,” said Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt, director of the Shepherd Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities.

Award-winning author Marie Manilla will be this year’s Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her novel, “The Patron Saint of Ugly,” won the Weatherford Award and is the 2021 One Book One West Virginia common reading selection. “Shrapnel” received the Fred Bonnie Award for Best First Novel. Stories in her collection, “Still Life with Plums,” first appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Prairie Schooner, Mississippi Review, Calyx and other journals. Her essays have appeared in Word Riot, Cossack Review, Hippocampus, and Under the Sun, and Still.

Manilla’s work will be the inspiration behind a number of AHF and Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence events, scheduled from Sept. 24 through Oct. 1, according to Shurbutt.

“The programs planned around the work of Marie Manilla all contribute to understanding our resiliency and to the healing and joy that telling our stories afford,” Shurbutt said.

Those interested in a complete list of workshops and information about the showcase concert can contact Rachael Meads at rmeads@shepherd.edu or visit the AHF website. For more information, including links to YouTube and Zoom sessions, visit the Marie Manilla Appalachian Writer-in-Residence webpage on Shepherd University’s website.