Over sweet tea and coffee, a festival was born for the Sequatchie Valley.
Valley Fest, an inaugural event featuring music, arts, crafts, bike ride, car show, vendors, food and children's activities that was birthed over lunch between Sequatchie and Bledsoe county officials more than a year ago, will be Saturday and Sunday in Dunlap, Tenn.
"We talked about how we could do some cooperative things, some good events, [display] the diversity," said Winston Pickett, executive director of the Sequatchie County/Dunlap Chamber of Commerce. "We wanted to do something to celebrate that [diversity], to generate interest in the valley. This is a unique place to be."
The festival will be held in a parking area about a third of a mile long north of the Chamber of Commerce building. The entertainers, craft vendors, food vendors and car show exhibitors alone total more than 600 people, he said.
Pickett said the diversity of the Sequatchie Valley will be evident in, among other things, the food vendors. Korean, Caribbean, Italian and Hispanic will be among the different types offered.
"It's really been interesting how it all came together," he said.
Pickett said there also would be a wide variety of music, from the City of Chattanooga Pipe Band and the Molly Maguires, a Celtic punk band, to a black drum band and an American Indian dance group.
There also will be glass-blowing, magicians, storytelling, face-painting, miniature cars, balloons and other activities for children.
"There's lots of things for kids," Pickett said.
For athletic types, 25- and 50-mile bike rides will cover Pike Gap Road and Henson Gap Road, among other places.
Pickett said the event would likely become an annual event if the first year goes well.
"We're trying to promote the valley," he said.
IF YOU GO
What: Valley Fest.
When: 9 a.m.-9 p.m. CDT Saturday; noon-5 p.m. CDT Sunday.
Where: Adjacent to Dunlap Chamber of Commerce, 13 Rankin Ave. N., Dunlap, Tenn.
Admission: $5 adults, $1 children 12-under.
Phone: 423-949-7608.
SCHEDULE (Central time)
Mountain Valley Bank Stage
Saturday
* 9 a.m. Opening ceremony
* 9:30 a.m. Sequatchie County High School choir
* 10:30 a.m. Lantana Drifters
* 11:30 a.m. Southern Echo and American Indian dancers
* Noon. City of Chattanooga Pipe Band (roaming)
* 12:30 p.m. Donna Frost
* 1:30 p.m. Taylor Reed Band
* 2:30 p.m. Supercluster
* 3:30 p.m. Shadow Ridge
* 4:30 p.m. Emma King & The Heartsets
* 5:30 p.m. Bartlee Norton & 64 Highway
* 6:15 p.m. Comedian Sam Schott
* 7 p.m. Cody McCarver
Sunday
* Noon. Cary Hudson & The Piney Woods Playboys
* 1 p.m. Harps
* 1:40 p.m. Cody Cookston
* 2:35 p.m. Phil Stacey
* 3:30 p.m. Cumberland Trio
* 4:25 p.m. Davey Smith & The Honkytonkers
Citizens Tri-County Bank Stage
Saturday
* 9:30 a.m. The Cumberland Band
* 10:25 a.m. Magician Carl Fowler
* 10:55 a.m. Fredonia Bluegrass
* 11:50 a.m. Carrie Hassler
* 12:45 a.m. Megan Davis
* 1:40 p.m. Meredith Goins & The Chinese Rhythmatic
* 2:30 p.m. Emerald Hips & Mirabai (roaming)
* 2:35 p.m. Ogya World Music Band
* 3:30 p.m. Lantana Drifters
* 4:30 p.m. Tim Lee
* 5:30 p.m. Milele Roots
* 6:15 p.m. Camp Normal
Sunday
* Noon. The Molly Maguires
* 12:55 p.m. Dalton Roberts
* 1:40 p.m. Glory Road
* 2:35 p.m. Muddy River Bluegrass Band
* 3:30 p.m. Terry Rankin
* 4:25 p.m. Dankirk