Musicians Join Fine Artists at ColorFest
Submitted by Amy Ammons Garza,  Catch the Spirit of Appalachia, Inc.

October 23,  10 AM - 4 PM in Downtown Sylva NC:  As the colors of Autumn peek, bright colors of fine artists will paint the town of Sylva with the colors of creativity while music and song adds to it’s dance! Main and Mill Streets will be filled with artists who are doing what they love most in this world—creating—and the mountains all around will ring with the sound of music!

ColorFest, Art of the Blue Ridge is in it’s second year, and has more than doubled in size, growing from 20 to 44 fine artists filling 2 streets in Downtown Sylva. Produced by Catch the Spirit of Appalachia (CSA) and celebrated as a featured event of the 75th Anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway, this event intends to bring fine art and music together with the sponsorship of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce & TTA, the Jackson County Arts Council through a grassroots grant, the Jackson County Visual Arts Association, and the downtown shops and restaurants.

Scattered throughout the downtown restaurants and in some of the stores on October 23, eight different local musical acts will entertain the visitors to the street fair. The Collins Sisters Limberjack Band (and other members of the family) will entertain on stage at The Village at Sapphire Valley from 10 until 4pm with their main show at 1pm. At the Jackson County Friends of the Library Bookstore, dulcimer lovers will enjoy Annie Harlow. Dusk Weaver & wife, who plays the Appalachian zither, guitar, harmonica, drum, and other instruments, perform two sets, the first beginning at 11am at Signature Brew Coffee Company. Lori Richards, flautist, will be at Lulu’s on Main from 12 noon-1:30pm; Guitarist & folk singer Teresa Eberly will perform two sets (10-11am & 2-3pm) at Annie’s Bakery, and Pam Dengler with her fiddle will be at Mill and Main Restaurant. Hooper’s Restaurant will welcome Keith Shuler from 1-4pm, while J. Robin Whitley can be heard at It’s By Nature Gallery from 11am-2pm.

“On October 23, surrounded by the colorful artwork of nature as Autumn colors fall upon our mountains, ” says Doreyl Ammons Cain, cofounder of CSA, and director of the festival. “the merchants of downtown Sylva will host some of the most accomplished fine artists and musicians in western North Carolina. The arts are alive in Sylva--stroll down Main Street and look in the windows, and then come on Saturday, October 23, and join us for ColorFest, Art of the Blue Ridge!”

For more information, call the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce at (828) 586-2155 or (800) 962-1911.