Becki Veach contributed to the story
What started as a small Earth Day Festival has now become a celebration of Appalachian culture and spring, turning the 28th annual Greening Up The Mountains Festival into one of the largest single-day festivals in the U.S.
“We love coming to these festivals. We try to support local artists and buy local art about twice a month,” Waynesville resident Mike Martin said.
The rain throughout the day, April 25, didn’t stop thousands of visitors, vendors, musicians, and racers from having a good time. The festival is free, but parking has been a consistent problem.
“We’re maxed out because of our footprint. We can’t get any further past Main Street, and we can’t go any further than the area down at Bridge Park. We need the rest of the space for parking, which is something we barely have space for with the increase in our vendors. I’ve got every space taken,” event coordinator Mark Haskett said.
The day started with the traditional 5k race that took place an hour before the festival. The rain did not deter the racers and their supporters from coming out and celebrating.
According to the official Greening Up the Mountains website, the average turnout is 12,000 people with 170 vendors in attendance. The festival also includes arts and crafts, live music, food trucks, and street performances.
Four years ago, Greening Up the Mountains had 130 vendors for the festival, with more than half signing up in the later days of vendor registration for the festival. This year, however, more than 170 vendors registered for the festival. More than half of the vendors this year registered on the day registration opened up. The vendors that followed filled capacity for the festival in less than a week.
Unlike last year, a majority of this year’s vendors were food vendors. There were 40 arts and crafts vendors this year, with the rest being small businesses in Jackson County. Haskett confirmed that 170 is the maximum number of vendors the festival can have at this time.
Greening Up the Mountains also features live music mostly from local bands and artists. JAM Band (Junior Appalachian Musicians) played from 10-11 a.m. Bird in Hand played from 11:30-12:30 p.m. Fuzzy Peppers played from 1-2 p.m. PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) played from 2:30-4:00 p.m. Greening Up the Mountains ranked 4th in the top ten band lineups for a non-music festival in the U.S. for the better part of the day of the event.
The musical genres varied from band to band. JAM (Junior Appalachian Musicians) has music mixed between old-time and traditional bluegrass gospel with similar styles seen from bands in Haywood County. Bird In Hand, however, couldn’t be different with their style being rooted in punk rock as much as it is in the distinct folk sounds of the Smoky Mountains.
PMA, Positive Mental Attitude, gathers influences from Dub Reggae, Roots Reggae, and Alternative/Psychedelic sounds to produce unique, non-cultural music. This band, in particular, invited a large crowd of repeat concertgoers and even some light mosh pits later on in the show.
Bryan Thurman from the local band Bird In Hand commented on his passion for music that led him to play at festivals.
“So, it’s definitely just a passion. My wife didn’t use to play, but I used to occasionally go on small tours with friends of mine. She got tired of getting left behind, so she learned to play the mandolin, and here we are,” Thurman said, getting ready for his afternoon set.
Haskett and his team also took extra security precautions to ensure cars could be safely guided toward the appropriate lots. Police barricades blocked entrances to the main lots being used for the festival, while individual police officers lined the streets for safety.
“Everyone has heard of incidents of cars accidentally or even purposefully driving on festival streets. That’s why we work with Sylva PD and the local fire department to ensure participant safety,” Haskett said.
If you liked Greening Up the Mountains, Jackson County offers multiple festivals similar in scale coming up in the fall, like the Cashiers Leaf Festival, the Mountain Heritage Days, the WNC Pottery Festival, and the Dillsboro Arts and Crafts Festival.
