DawsonTimes.com

Organizers of Dahlonega’s Bear on the Square Mountain Festival point out that the roster of MainStage Tent performers for the upcoming 13th annual event includes several well-known performers capable of once again attracting large crowds to their concerts.

The 2009 festival weekend of exceptional music and art is scheduled for Friday through Sunday, April 17-19, in Dahlonega, located in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains. The MainStage Tent acts include legendary bluegrass singer/songwriter Claire Lynch and her award-winning band; The Freight Hoppers, a high energy old-time music string band; two of the most respected players in old-time music today, the duo of Beverly Smith and Carl Jones; The Dappled Grays, honored by Creative Loafing as Atlanta's Best Bluegrass Band; the Packway Handle Band, an Athens group which excites audiences with innovative, non-traditional bluegrass stylings; and Curtis Jones and Friends, a group of talented musicians led by Dahlonega resident Curtis Jones, who has performed before audiences throughout the world.

Throughout the three-day festivities, visiting and local musicians will gather in groups beginning at midday on Friday to jam on the lawn of the historic Gold Museum and at other points around the Public Square, providing the sounds of music throughout the festival area. A series of music workshops featuring many of the festival’s talented performers is being conducted, and a street dance also is planned.

Featured musicians for this year’s festival, including the headliners and several well known regional and local groups, will be performing in the large white tent in Hancock Park just north of the Public Square.

The 2008 Festival drew a record high of an estimated 47,000 people to Dahlonega during the three-day event with large crowds attending performances in the MainStage Tent.

Other scheduled performers include Gold Rush with Neel Pender, The Buzzard Mountain Boys, Barefoot Creek, and Greybeard, and The Family Honor, five Dahlonega-based bands which feature some of the area’s best bluegrass and old-time musicians; The Solstice Sisters, three women from Athens harmonizing old-time country ballads, traditional folk, and '30s styled swing; the Peavine Creek String Band, an Atlanta area group which includes new Dahlonega resident Ann Whitley; area resident Barry Bailey, who is of Irish/Cherokee descent and who offers a mix of country, alternative rock, old Celtic and Native American themed songs; the festival's "Rocking the Roots Band", 6 Day Bender, a mountain rock 'n' roll band from Charlottesville, Va.; and the Georgia Pick & Bow Traditional Music School Band.

Also scheduled in the Mainstage Tent is the Sunday morning Gospel jam.

On Friday from 1:30-5:30 p.m., Southeastern Bluegrass Association members Estill Nicholson and Friends will be leading the jam on the square.

Another premier North Georgia old-time string band, the Georgia Mudcats, will provide music for the annual Live Country Auction, a major fund-raiser for the festival, which will be held in the performance tent in Hancock Park on Friday night.

The Bear on the Square event is about much more than the music. Also taking place around the Public Square is the festival’s juried Mountain Marketplace, offering handcrafted art based on Appalachian culture. The artists and their work will be available at booths around the Public Square which will be filled with pottery, handmade baskets, jewelry, candles, instruments, jams and jellies, artwork, and much more. With the prestigious John C. Campbell Folk School as a major sponsor this year, the festival will include artwork, performances, and demonstrations from some of the folk school's dancers, musicians and artists.

The 2009 Mountain Marketplace will once again feature North Georgia folk artist Billy Roper, who began carving in stone when he was growing up and now works in both stone and wood, creating masks and totems. He also paints, with subjects ranging from his own uniquely stylistic florals to intricate scenes filled with animals, figures, and plants. Roper was featured in the February 2007 edition of Southern Living Magazine.

Dahlonega’s business community is also participating in the festivities, with special showings at the art galleries on and near the Public Square. Plus, a number of local music venues have scheduled performances that weekend.

Special children's activities in and around the Public Square are also planned during the event.

Co-sponsor of the festival is the Convention & Visitors Bureau of the Dahlonega-Lumpkin County Chamber of Commerce; the Appalachian Studies Center at North Georgia College and State University is a partner for the event.

Major sponsors for the festival, other than the John C. Campbell Folk School, include Jim Ellis Audi of Atlanta, Corporate Sponsor; The Fudge Factory and The Crimson Moon Cafe, both of Dahlonega, Mainstage Sponsors; LVS Homes, Workshop Tent Sponsor; Norman Adams Insurance, Food Court Sponsor; folk artist Billy Roper, Heritage Sponsor; The Pender Family, Founding Sponsor; and 3by400 of Dahlonega, Website Sponsor.

More information about the 2009 Bear on the Square Mountain Festival can be found at www.bearonthesquare.org. Last year's festival drew a record estimated 47,000 people to the three-day event.

Bear on the Square Mountain Festival, Inc., which stages the show each year, is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit cultural arts organization whose mission is to preserve and celebrate the culture of the Southern Appalachians through the presentation of music, traditional craft, and folkways. Tax deductible donations are welcome and can be sent to P.O. Box 338, Dahlonega, GA 30533.