I’m just ack from the inaugural Fiddle and Fork Festival held by the Blue Ridge Music Center in Galax, Virginia and the Bluffs Restaurant in Sparta, North Carolina in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Culture Heritage. Both venues are on the Blue Ridge Parkway in absolutely beautiful surroundings. Friday night, June 12, 2026 was a wonderful dinner at Bluffs featuring traditional dishes and ingredients from the North Carolina mountains and foothills (and flatlands of the South) re-imagined and prepared and presented with culinary finesse. (A few photos are below.) The next day focused on music at the BRMC (at which I had the honor of accompanying my friend, poet-storyteller-musician Ken Waldman, on fiddle) with some tables related to food. Sunday, the festival moved back to the restaurant with food demonstrations and a narrative stage along with the usual serving of meals to customers.
I wrote a short essay for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival Blog that gives more historical and cultural context on both the food and the music. It’s personal, as well, since my father was from the mountains nearby, and I grew up spending time with my relatives (“his people,” he called them). I was very aware of the stereotypes applied to Appalachian residents, partly because I had them applied to me. I also was very aware of how much more diverse this region was than the assumptions of a homogenous culture.
Anyway, I wanted to get across in the blog that the mountains defy stereotyping. And that includes the food also. Much of it is similar to pioneer-based, rural foodways anywhere in the US, but some dishes illustrate the history and natural environment of the various subregions of Appalachia. This link should take you to the blog:
https://festival.si.edu/blog/southern-appalachia-fiddle-fork
One of the current trends is the re-imagining of traditional dishes and ingredients. Below are examples. More explanation is in the blog, but take my word for it that they were all delicious!
Fried livermush on crackers.
Ginger shrub (nonalcoholic);
Trout pate with caviar
Cabbage pastries
Cole slaw; pickled beets,summer squash; cucumber salad
Leather Britches (dried green beans); succotash; mashed potatoes
Dessert—Biscuits (2 kinds) with chocolate gravy, sorghum butter, honey, and blackberries
