Orange County LocalFest is a diverse, family-friendly festival that celebrates and promotes local food, local music, the local economy, and the county’s heritage and culture.
LocalFest is sponsored by Orange County Government. Follow the Facebook page for updates.
The event will be held at the Blackwood Farm Park, 4215 NC 86 South, Hillsborough, on Saturday, September 29th, 2018, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
This is a free festival that features live music, cooking demonstrations, local artists and crafters, and educational and kids’ activities.
Parking for LocalFest will be available at offsite lots. More information will soon be available here.
Profits generated by the event will support the Breeze Farm Incubator. This farm provides a place for aspiring farmers who don’t have access to the land or equipment required to farm and is creating new local farm businesses. The County’s Beginning Farmer Program, which includes the incubator farm, is run by Orange County Cooperative Extension.
Music
- Contentment is Wealth with Fiddlin’ Al McCanless and Bob Vasile
- Colin Shoemaker: virtuoso flute, whistle and bombard player
- Five Points Rounders: old-time string band that has launched a series of “Rowdy Square Dances.”
- Hubby Jenkins: multi-instrumentalist who is a member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops
- Jake Xerxes Fussell: Durham based singer and guitarist
- John Dee Holeman: Blues musician
- New Hope Missionary Baptist Association Musical Convention Choir
- The Bluegrass Experience
- Green Level Entertainers
- Mariachi de Los Galleros de Mexico
- Old Jonny Booker Band
Demonstrators
- Jerome Bias: furniture making using 18th century woodworking techniques
- Elia Bizzarri: makes Windsor chairs using traditional tools and techniques
- Cotton of the Carolinas
- Durham Orange Quilters’ Guild
- Warren Goodson: Paintings, sculture, drawings and carvings that focus on his love and appreciation of Black culture
- John Blackfeather Jeffries: Native American tools and weapons made from bone, wood sinew, leather and wood
- Vickie Jeffries: Bracelets and earrings made on a wooden loom
- Orange County Beekeepers Association
- Piedmont Wildlife Center
- Tarish Pipkins, a.k.a. Jeghetto: puppetry
- Blacksmithing
- Triangle Weavers Guild
- Richard Whorton: border collies herding sheep
Kids’ Activities
- The Bouncing Bulldogs Jump Rope Class
- Evie and Kara O’Dor Maker Camp Chapel Hill
- Cornelio Campos Muraling and Public Art Workshops
- Grace Van Fleet Pringmaking Workshops
- Kohler Farms
- Paperhand Puppet Intervention
- Pony Rides
Cooking Demonstrations
- Ross Flynn, Left Bank Butchery: Butchery 101
- Carly Erickson, Boro Beverage Company: Fermentation Workshop
- April McGreger, Farmer’s Daughter Pickles and Preserves: Canning and Preserving Techniques
- Chapel Hill Creamery, Portia McKnight & Flo Hawley: Cheese Making
- Justin Robinson: Culinary Traditions from the African Diaspora
- That’s So Corny: A Panel of Home Cooks Explore Corn Breads
- Discovering Asia through NC Local Food
Food and drink
- Big Boyz Catering
- Botanist and Barrel
- Carrboro Coffee Roasters
- Maple View Mobile
- Merry Franksters
- Mystery Brewing
- Napoli Neopolitan Wood-Fired Pizza
- Special Treats
- Vecino Brewing Co.
