DawsonTimes.com

Dahlonega's historic Public Square and the adjacent Hancock Park will be the scene of a busy schedule of music and art during the 13th annual Bear on the Square Mountain Festival this weekend, April 17-19.

The festival opens on Friday, and the featured event that day will be the Live Country Auction beginning late that afternoon in the MainStage Tent in Hancock Park.

Highlighting the musical performances on Saturday and Sunday in the MainStage Tent will be appearances by The Claire Lynch Band, The Freight Hoppers, Beverly Smith and Carl Jones, The Dappled Grays, Curtis Jones and Friends, and The Packway Handle Band.

The MainStage musical lineup also includes a number of other well known national, regional and local entertainers. Throughout the three-day festival, there will be jamming day and night around the Public Square by local and visiting old-time and bluegrass musicians, and a series of music workshops, some featuring festival headliners, will be held on Saturday and Sunday.

Also taking place on Saturday and Sunday will be the festival's juried Mountain Marketplace, offering handcrafted art based on Appalachian culture. The renowned John C. Campbell Folk School is sponsoring the Marketplace this year, and there will be demonstrations by several of the school's artists and appearances by some of the dance teams from the school. 

Other booths will contain a wide selection of work from painters, furniture makers, musical instrument makers, potters, quilt makers, and woodturners, plus a selection of gourds, jewelry, whirligigs, crocheted tablecloths, handmade soaps and lotions, natural honey products, photography, and baskets, plus exhibits from other special groups and from the major sponsors of the festival.

The festival schedule includes an old-time mountain dance, a folk artists' collective panel discussion, and special family activities.

Full details of the 2009 Bear on the Square activities, including events, times, locations, and the list of major sponsors, are available at www.bearonthesquare.org.

Bear on the Square Mountain Festival, Inc., which stages the festival 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.