Taste of the Mountains Main Street Festival in Madison, Virginia

If you are looking for something different to do on Labor Day weekend this year, make plans now to visit the annual Taste Of The Mountains Main Street Festival Festival in the picturesque and historic town of Madison, Virginia. This annual heritage festival celebrates the mountain and traditional cultures of the German and English settlers who populated the Blue Ridge mountain region of the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries. This festival has been organized by the Madison County, Virginia Chamber of Commerce since 1992, and has continued to grow each year.

The Taste of the Mountains Festival is always held the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, from 10:00am until 5:00pm. The entire main street of the town is closed and blocked to traffic for the event, and exhibitor booths line both sides of the street, and also a courtyard across from the town's historic courthouse. There is no admission charge for the festival. Free parking is provided at the Madison County High School parking lot and also at the adjacent Young Farmers Grounds, located just south of the festival area on Rt. 29. Shuttle buses will transport festival-goers to and from the festival site.

Each year, over 150 exhibitors display work conforming to the festival's theme. Exhibitors will include crafters, artisans and antique booths as well as local businesses and organizations. All items must be either locally produced and crafted or handmade. Some local Madison County artists and crafters can be counted on to display their offerings annually at this popular festival. Lou Messa, a well-known painter of local scenes, can always be found in a large, well-appointed booth offering original signed paintings as well as prints of his work. The E.A. Clore Furniture Company, Madison County makers of top quality handmade Early American furniture since 1832, will be displaying their line of furniture and catalogs in a huge tent. Raffle tickets for a few of the company's small furniture pieces will be sold. Debbie Sisk, the owner of Blue Ridge Emporium, a local antique mall and year-round Christmas store, will have a booth selling lovely trinkets. A local Boy Scout troop offers handmade bird and bat houses for sale at a very reasonable price. Arts and crafts of all types will be available for sale. Several potters will display their wares, and there will be plenty of handmade wooden toys and hand-stitched dolls for the children on your gift list. Many handmade quilts and baskets will also be offered for sale along Main Street.

Free entertainment and music will be provided at several spots along Main Street. Live country, mountain, bluegrass and folk music will be performed on 2 stages located at either end of the street. Past festivals have also highlighted performances by clogging and Highland dance groups. Be sure to see The Courtney Hollow Bluegrass Band, a local traditional bluegrass band with a hard driving sound and excellent instrumentation and vocal harmonies, will be performing as usual for part of the day on one of the festival stages. The Madison County High School Band can be found further along the street, playing jazz and pep songs for your pleasure at regular intervals throughout the day. This group of earnest and hard-working teens, under the direction of their enthusiastic and talented band director, Mr. Keith Cottrill, was selected as a Virginia Honor Band, and regularly receives top honors at regional band competitions. Don't miss one of their short performances, you will be in for a rare treat!

In keeping with the "Taste of The Mountains" theme, a large variety of delicious regional foods and other country fare will be prepared for your dining pleasure. All foods at the festival are made by Madison County residents. Get in line early for one of the delicious steak sandwiches grilled by members of the Madison County Fire Department. Another popular food vendor is Yoder's, a local Mennonite business, which will be offering plates of barbequed chicken. Madison's Pig-N-Steak Restaurant will be serving up heaping plates of North Carolina style pulled pork. Graves Mountain Lodge will also be found there, selling jars of their delicious canned apple butter and preserves, as well as gift baskets of food items. After lunch, stop by the Madison County 4-H Dairy Club booth for some of their homemade ice cream, which will be offered in a variety of fresh flavors. They usually run out of this popular treat! Local churches and organizations will be offering other foods such as baked goods, homemade apple butter and home canned foods of all types.

The Taste of The Mountains Main Street Festival also features pony rides, a petting zoo, antique autos, magic shows, and living history and heritage demonstrations. A Civil War Encampment will be re-enacted on the grounds of the historic James Lawson Kemper House in the center of the town. Members of the 7th Virginia Infantry Regiment, Company A, a local Civil War re-enactment group, will answer any questions you have about life during the Civil War. With all of these attractions, there is sure to be something to interest everyone at this festival. Plan to spend the day, and be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes so you can see it all!

Beautiful and historic Madison County is located just 28 miles north of Charlottesville along Rt. 29 in Central Virginia. Madison is 94 miles from the state capital of Richmond and 87 miles from the nation's capital of Washington D.C. For more information about The Taste Of The Mountains Main Street Festival, contact the Madison County Chamber of Commerce at (540) 948-4455 or visit their Web site is at http://www.madison-va.com.