Country band Shenandoah will headline at the Man of Vision after-show Saturday night, concluding the first day of Finster Fest, a folk art and music festival honoring Howard Finster.Finster Fest, the arts and folk music festival honoring the late folk artist/Baptist minister Howard Finster, unfolds this year with a Man of Vision after-show featuring country band Shenandoah.
Admission is free to the two-day festival, scheduled 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, May 31, and 1-5 p.m. Sunday, June 1, at Dowdy Park, 10096 Commerce St. in Summerville, Ga. The juried show will feature more than 50 artists, food vendors and live music by The Van Lears, Thayer Sarrano, Yankee Slickers, 3 and 20, Tracie Victoria Mattox, True Blue, The Strange, Dennis Brown Trio and Daniel Parrish.
"Java The Mutt," by Rome, Ga., metal sculptor Jim Shores, is made from squashed soda cans, a coffee can, soup can, bottle caps and hardware. The 27-inch-long piece is one of a series of Can-ines by Shores, a self-taught artist whose work is included in Finster Fest 2014.The Man of Vision concert, set for 5 p.m.-midnight Saturday, costs $10 for general admission. The $50 VIP ticket includes a meet-and-greet with Shenandoah. The Grammy-winning band is known for such hits as "Church on Cumberland Road," "Two Dozen Roses" and "Sunday in the South." VIP ticketholders also can have their photo made with the band and receive a signed poster before the show starts.
The after-show concert site is on Washington Street in Summerville. Also performing are Randall Bramblett Band, The Whiskey Gentry and Travis Denning Band. Doors open at 4 p.m. Shenandoah is scheduled to take the stage at 9:15 p.m.
Organizers say the festival originated in 1992 as Howard Finster Day but has evolved into a two-day celebration and one of Chattooga County's most popular events, drawing thousands. It is produced by the Paradise Garden Foundation, the group in charge of the preservation of Finster's outdoor art environment, a maze of buildings, sculptures and displays designed by Finster, who died in 2001.