| Uncle Dave Macon volunteers looking to expand '09 festival |
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By: By ERIN EDGEMON, July 15, 2008
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Posted: Monday, July 21, 2008 2:37 pm
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The 31st annual Uncle Dave Macon Days has just come to a close, but organizers have already begun planning next year’s festival.
Volunteers are looking for ways to accommodate the festival’s growth at Cannonsburgh Village, said festival president Gloria Christy.
Uncle Dave Macon Days was July 11-13. The competition-based festival is the national championships for old-time banjo, buckdance and clogging.
“We had approximately 230 musicians, which is more than we have ever had,” she said. “A good many of them entered multiple categories. Some entered as many as three categories.
“The gas (prices) doesn’t seem to have any effect at all,” Christy said. “We were up in categories and we were up in attendance.”
Music fans from all over the country including Florida, Virginia, Illinois, Hawaii, Ohio and Michigan attended Uncle Dave Macon Days this year.
Christy also expects the jug band competition, which launched at this year’s festival, will draw even more contestants from out of state next year.
The growing number of contestants along with some minor rain delays caused festival competitions to conclude well after midnight on both Friday and Saturday nights.
Adding a second stage to allow for more competitions to take place at the same time is one of the options being considered for next year, Christy said.
However, a second stage could cost an additional $5,000-6,000.
Christy said competitions couldn’t spill over onto Sunday, the festival’s final day, due to the growth of the Gospel Showcase and Ministry Fair.
The Ministry Fair doubled in size this year from the previous year, she said.
Organizers also are hoping to add a square dancing competition to next year’s festival activities, said Rita Frizzell, a member of the festival’s board of directors.
But to make that happen, the festival is going to have to secure more sponsorship money, she said.
Square dancing was a fixture at Uncle Dave Macon Days in the early days of the festival when it was held on the downtown Public Square, Frizzell said. After the move, the Cannonsburgh stage wasn’t large enough to accommodate team dancing
“Now we are in the position to be able to have enough space,” she said. “We are actually the largest festival of our kind in the state of Tennessee. We are one of the only ones that doesn’t have square dancing as a category.”
Frizzell said square dancing will bring another level of excitement to Uncle Dave Macon Days.
“It fits our goal as both entertaining and promoting traditional arts at the same time,” she said.
Festival organizers are currently drafting rules and criteria for the judging of a square dance competition.
Erin Edgemon can be reached at 869-0812 and at eedgemon@murfreesboropost.com.
More info:
The Uncle Dave Macon Days planning committee is always looking for volunteers. The first meeting to plan the 2009 festival is slated for September. To get involved, call Gloria Christy at 893-2369.
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