Music, more at the Festival of Leaves

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

A variety of entertainment is coming to the Bland Fairgrounds this Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 11 and 12. It is one of the many features of the annual Festival of Leaves.
“We have a lot of wonderful entertainment again this year,” said Betty K. Munsey, chairman of the festival’s entertainment committee.
The Appalachian Hoedowners will open the Festival of Leaves with a 1 p.m. performance Saturday on the main stage. Directed by Melissa Eversole, the 15-member clogging group performs various routines.
The Light of Hope Men’s Choir will present gospel songs at 2 p.m. Saturday on the main stage. Bluegrass band Midnight Ramblers String plays at 3 p.m. also on the main stage.
Local popular group, the Hollybrook Band, will perform at 5 p.m. Saturday on the main stage.
Gospel music singer Craig Whittaker of the White Gate community in Giles County will be featured Sunday at 10 a.m. He has been ministering through music for several years.
Whittaker’s first contemporary Christian music CD “Common Ground” features his own compositions. He is writing songs for his second project, which will begin production later this fall.
Folk singer Will Jones will entertain Saturday at 12:45 p.m. He will play the main stage.
At 2:30 p.m. Sunday, bluegrass band Fescue will bring its music to the main stage. A member of the International Bluegrass Music Assoc. and the Bristol Country Music Alliance, the five-piece band hails from Smyth County.
Fescue plays regularly for fans in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and West Virginia. Intricate harmonies, instrumental talents and energetic performances have made the group a crowd pleaser, according to the group’s biography.
The Retro Boogie Band, a spin-off of the Captives, will close the festival with a 4 p.m. performance Sunday on the main stage. Members include John Warden, vocalist; Alan Warden, guitarist and vocalist; Robert Atkins, drummer and vocalist; and Jason Warden, bass player.
The Retro Boogie Band recently completed a CD of its own songs.
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 1-800-655-1406 or .