DUELING BANJOS
BLUEGRASS FESTIVALS IN DUNLAP, LINSDALE
The Tennessee hills will ring with a long-distance version of dueling banjos this weekend as Dunlap and Linsdale offer their annual bluegrass festivals.
DUNLAP
In Sequatchie County, the Coke Ovens Bluegrass Festival is back for Round 26 at the Coke Ovens Park and Museum. Music starts at 6 tonight and at 1 p.m. Saturday (all times are Central), but shade-tree jams are a fixture at the site throughout the weekend, and activities will start onstage at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The lineup includes Bluetastic Fangrass, Cumberland Band, Between the Lines, Cannon Creek, the Fleming Family, Clearview, Coalition Band, Just Passin’ Thru, Fox Mountain Express, Roy Harper, Scenic City Ramblers, Hilltoppers, Valley Grass and Newell Angel.
Entry is by donation, with $3 suggested today, $5 Saturday, $7 for both days. All donations will go to the Sequatchie Valley Historical Association, which oversees the Coke Ovens Park and Museum.
Concessions will be available, and the museum will be open for tours.
Blankets and lawn chairs are recommended for seating. No alcohol and no pets are allowed in the park, and no coolers may be brought into the outdoor amphitheater.
The festival site is threefourths of a mile west of downtown Dunlap. If headed south on U.S. 127 through Dunlap, turn right on Cherry Street, cross the railroad tracks and follow signs.
For more information, call 423-949-3483 or visit www.cokeovens.com.
LINSDALE
In Polk County, the 18th annual Linsdale Bluegrass Festival will be held Saturday at the Linsdale Community Service Center.
Scheduled to perform between noon and 9 p.m. are the Spurgeon Brothers, Blue Ridge Grass, By the Way, Just Us and the Lone Mountain Band.
Concessions will include barbecue chicken plates, barbecue sandwiches, pinto beans, hamburgers, hot dogs, nachos and homemade desserts.
The festival will be held rain or shine. The stage is within a large, covered building. Free camping in the rough is available, with hookups priced at $10 per night.
Admission is $5; free for children under 12.
To reach the festival site from Chattanooga, take I-75 to the Charleston exit to U.S. Highway 11. Turn north to Highway 163 East. Follow signs. If coming from Highway 411, turn onto Highway 163 West. The site is six miles north of Benton.
No alcohol or drugs are allowed within the festival site.
For more information, call 423-338-5608 or 423338-5538. To rent a yard-sale table, call 423-338-2396.