An Appalachian Sumer Festival announces sumer line-up in Boone, North Carolina

An Appalachian Sumer Festival announces sumer line-up in Boone, North Carolina

An Appalachian Summer Festival’s sixteenth season, celebrated July 1-29 in Boone, will present an extraordinary array of music, dance, and theatre performances, as well as some of the finest visual artists from across the nation.

Featured artists will range from internationally acclaimed violinist Pinchas Zukerman and country music singer Kenny Rogers to The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, folk singer Arlo Guthrie, The Paul Taylor Dance Company, and world renowned painter Wolf Kahn, among many others.

Festival events are held on and around the Boone, NC, campus of Appalachian State University, which has presented the annual arts celebration since 1984.

Named one of the Top 20 Events in the Southeast by the Southeast Tourism Society, the festival’s attendance has doubed during its past two seasons. Its 1999 attendance was nearly 25,000.

Multi-talented superstar Kenny Rogers, winner of three Grammy Awards, headlines the festival’s Outdoor Fireworks Concert on Saturday, July 29 in Kidd Brewer Stadium. Another superstar from the world of classical music: internationally renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman, performs a recital on Saturday, July 15th in Farthing Auditorium.

This season’s musical offerings include three performances by the North Carolina Symphony, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, ,folk singer Arlo Guthrie, recital by guitarist Douglas James from Appalachian’s School of Music faculty, jazz pianist Benny Green, and others

The visual arts play a prominent role in this annual arts festival. An extraordinary collection of paintings, pastels and monoprints will be on displaywork. The Rosen Outdoor Sculpture Competition & Exhibition again brings works by fine contemporary sculptors to Boone, with sculpture installed at various outdoor sites across campus. Rounding out the visual arts program is a workshop series.

Information: the Farthing Auditorium Box Office, phone (828) 262-4046, or (800) 841-ARTS.