GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK – Great Smoky Mountains National Park announces the 34th annual Festival of Christmas Past celebration scheduled Saturday, December 12, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the Sugarlands Visitor Center.  The event, sponsored in cooperation with Great Smoky Mountains Association, is free to the public.

Festival of Christmas Past is an annual celebration of the culture

 of the Smoky Mountains, with an emphasis on the Christmas season.  “Around

 Christmas time, people gathered in churches, homes, and schools, and many

 of them celebrated the holiday through music, storytelling, and crafts.

 Festival of Christmas Past allows us to pause and remember some of these

 traditions,” said Kent Cave, North District Resource Education Supervisor.

      The festival will include old-time mountain music featuring the

 ”Lost Mill String Band,” “Boogertown Gap” band, and “South of the River

 Boys.” Demonstrations of traditional domestic skills such as the making of

 baskets, lye soap, quilts, and apple butter will be ongoing throughout the

 day.  Other special programs that will be presented include:

     9:30 a.m. – “Old-fashioned Harp Singing” led by Bruce Wheeler, Paul
        Clabo and Martha Graham

     12:00 p.m. – Cuz Headrick telling stories of the holiday season

     1:00 p.m. -  “Stories of the Past” session, presented by the Smoky
        Mountain Historical Society

     2:00 to 3:00 p.m. – “Memories Along the Trail” – Costumed
        interpreters will lead a short walk from the visitor center and
        talk about life in the mountains during the holidays in the early
        days of the 1880s to the 1930s

     “Local craftspeople and musicians come together to share their

ancestral skills with the public during this annual festival. We invite the

public to participate in the day’s activities and learn about winter life

and work in the Great Smoky Mountains,” said Cave.