Exchange Place: Fall Folk Arts Festival

Kingsport, TN – A hint of autumn in the air must mean it is time for the annual Fall Folk Arts Festival at
Exchange Place! This celebration of pioneer arts and crafts, and the harvest season, will feature artisans
demonstrating and selling a wide variety of traditional folk arts, along with autumn plants, produce and unique
seasonal. This year, the eagerly-anticipated event will be held on Saturday, September 28, from 10 am
until 5 pm, and Sunday, September 29, from noon until 5 pm. Admission is $5 for ages 12 and
over, with those under the age of 12 admitted free. As always, proceeds go towards the care of the
farm’s animals, and the continuing restoration and preservation of the site, located at 4812 Orebank Road in
Kingsport, Tennessee and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

For the 48 th consecutive year, the historic valley farmstead will be bustling with activity as artists from the
region will gather to demonstrate and pass along the skills of yesteryear to the next generation. Experts in
woodworking, soap-making, hand-painting on slate, paper quilling and hand-crafted greeting cards will be on
hand, along with those people continuing the centuries-long tradition of guilds, which are associations that
represent a particular trade or craft. The Overmountain Weavers' Guild, who are experts in spinning and
weaving, will be out in force at several farmstead locations, including the Burow Museum and the (upstairs)
girls’ room of the Preston House. The First Frontier Quilters of Kingsport, and the Senior Artisans (representing
a wide variety of crafters), are two other guilds whose members are specialists in crafts that date back to a
time when ‘most everything was made right on the farm or in the home.

A new tradition at the Festival is the cooking of sorghum. Sorghum cane that was planted earlier this year will
be harvested in a special area located behind the blacksmith’s shop. This very time-consuming task, which you
can witness on Saturday, September 28, consists of squeezing the juice from the cane, then boiling it until the
water has evaporated to the point where only pure sorghum is left in the pan. With the milling and cooking
completed, Sunday’s activities will consist of educational explanations about the mill, the cane, and the process
of making sorghum, as well as opportunities to visit the cane patch and compare sorghum cane with sugar
cane to learn about the differences up close. (Please note that what we produce is for demonstration purposes
only, but we will be offering for sale some 100% pure sorghum syrup, made fresh this year by the Guenther
family of Muddy Pond, TN.)

Exchange Place is, of course, a Living History Farm, so the past comes alive all around the campus. The
Eden’s Ridge Hearth Cookery Society, and our energetic Junior Apprentices, will be in the log kitchen,
preparing some of the foods the Preston family would have eaten in the mid nineteenth century. Just a few
yards away, Camp Placid will be grinding and selling apple cider (only on Saturday, however). In the years
before the invention of the automobile, horses were a necessity, which meant that people needed access to a
blacksmith, and that bygone art will be demonstrated in our blacksmith shop. Old-time children's activities will
be found at several locations around the farm, which will also include the opportunity to come to our 1851
barn and meet some of the animals who live year-round at Exchange Place – Jenny, our donkey; Delilah, our
cow; and Chance and Ned, our horses. Sheep, chickens, pigs and even a couple of cats are also full-time
residents and might be seen throughout the weekend. And in the Burow Museum, visitors will be able to see a
special exhibition of quilts, all of which have been made by families who lived at (what is now) Exchange Place
or the Roseland property, or by many of the farmstead’s volunteers, past and present.

The harvest season will also be evident in autumn produce, such as pumpkins, local honey (from a local

beekeeper!), dried flowers, plants for fall planting, and seasonal crafts that will be offered for sale. Visitors will
also find food like goat milk cheeses, stone-ground cornmeal and grits, home-made breads, coffee cake and
granola to buy and take home, plus made-as-you-wait kettle corn and a variety of other yummy treats to eat
on site.

A unique silent auction will be offered this year as a special event. Two antique clocks, from the collection of
master clock mechanic Rod Groenewold, will be available to the highest bidder(s). One is one hundred years
old – an eight-day keywind clock that dates to 1919. The other is even older – a cast-iron mantle clock made
in 1890! These clocks will be on display, and can be bid on, in the Museum Store, located next to the
Roseland building. That is the same place one can find tickets to the annual Witches Wynd, our family-
friendly, Halloween-based storytelling adventure. Scheduled for Friday, October 25 and Saturday, October
26, it is one of Exchange Place’s most popular events every year, but please note that only a limited number of
tickets are sold, and at a mere $10 apiece, they often disappear by the close of the Fall Festival on Sunday.
We encourage people to stop by the Museum Store for both Witches Wynd tickets and Rod Groenewold’s
antique clocks.
The Sullivan County 4-H Club will again be organizing the popular Scarecrow Challenge, which encourages
individuals, groups and families to be creative as they continue the tradition of making a scarecrow. In order
to be judged, scarecrows must be on site by 11 am Saturday. The harvest market will include a
colorful array of corn, pumpkins, and squash. And live music by exciting local and regional artists will fill the
air throughout! A complete schedule is listed below, though please note that this list is always subject to last-
minute changes.

For more information, you may call Exchange Place at 423-288-6071, write to
exchangeplacefestivals@gmail.com, or visit our website at https://www.exchangeplace.info .
Exchange Place is a living history farm whose mission is to preserve and interpret the heritage of mid-
nineteenth century farm life in Northeast Tennessee. Exchange Place is a non-profit organization maintained
and operated entirely by volunteers and is supported by donations, fundraisers, memberships and grants.

MUSIC SCHEDULE FOR SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

10 – 11 am KINGSPORT COMMUNITY BAND
11 am – noon STRAWBERRY JAM
noon – 1 pm STATE STREET STRING BAND
1 – 2:30 pm CONDRONE, LONG AND MAHONEY
2:30 – 3 pm JUNIOR APPRENTICES OLD-TIME BAND
3 – 4 pm CHARLOTTE AND ART ELLIS
4 – 5 pm STRING BREAK

MUSIC SCHEDULE FOR SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

1 – 2 pm ABINGDON THUMB STRUMMERS JAM
2 – 3 pm RED AND GREY
3 – 3:30 pm JUNIOR APPRENTICES OLD-TIME BAND
4 – 5 pm SANDRA PARKER