About half of the artisans will be offering their wares for sale. Over two dozen old-time regional foods will be prepared on site. Events will include the Virginia State Championship Coon Mule Jumping Contest, the Virginia State Championship Coon Dog Water Race, a horse pull, a horse and mule log skidding contest, and a coon dog treeing contest. Special demonstrations of sheep herding with dogs will be presented during the day. Quilts will also be sold in the Festival crafts area.
Parking is free.
As a living history park located in southwest Virginia, Explore Park is dedicated to educating visitors of all ages about the people and culture of the Blue Ridge, past and present, and to illuminating the future of the same. Inherent in that mission is a responsibility to participate on and promote the study of regional culture, both through individual research and conversations with the scholarly community. Explore's Blue Ridge Symposium represents a continuing effort to increase awareness and understanding of regional culture by creating a forum for such conversation to take place. This year's Blue Ridge Symposium, the second such event, has also received the generous support of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy. Virginia's Explore Park acknowledges their support with much gratitude, and we anticipate making this second symposium even more successful than its predecessor.