New festival launches in Red Bank and more regional events

Carl Pendergrass stands outside of his Red Bank studio Monday. Pendergrass will present and demonstrate his beautiful and renowned copper fountains at the Red Bank Artisan Festival.

The second Sunflower Stables Barn Sale in Cleveland, Tenn., will have 50 vendors selling recycled and upcycled items, handmade items, produce and art.

Rock City's Rocktoberfest will take place each Saturday and Sunday through Oct. 30. Against the backdrop of beautiful fall foliage, Rock City Square will the place for German music, polka lessons, German food, specialty beer and costumed characters.

A new festival is launching this weekend in Red Bank that, by all accounts, has booked a respectable lineup of nearly 50 vendors for its debut.

The Red Bank Artisan Festival is a street party that is being jointly hosted by the Red Bank Masonic Lodge and the Betsy Ross chapter of Order of the Eastern Star. It will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, on Unaka Street between Dayton Boulevard and Redding Road. Unaka will be closed to traffic during festival hours.

According to Bob McGavock with the Red Bank Masonic Lodge, they are set to go with 47 vendors "who have been selected to afford the festival a balance and diversity of art/craft mediums. We have been fortunate to have amassed such a talented array of artists and crafters for our event."

There will also be a working oil painter, operational mini flour mill, blacksmith and face painter on-site. These vendors' fees and any other proceeds received will benefit the charity funds of each host organization.

For entertainment, the Shriners had to look no further than in-house. The Alhambra Shrine Highlanders will perform a program of "rousing bagpipe favorites at midday," says McGavock.

* After a positive response in its debut last year, Sunflower Stables Barn Sale is back this weekend with 50 vendors for a second show in the Tri-State Exhibition Center in Cleveland, Tenn.

"The title 'barn sale' describes a combination event where you can find craft fair, antique and vintage items, boutique clothing, art, food vendors and artisans all in one place," says organizer Deborah Lofton. "This year, we have added a classic car collection for people to browse through as well. "

Of those 50 vendors, 16 are new. They range from Sand Mountain Farmhouse's vintage and antique home decor to Dixie Dazzle jewelry to Sheet & Sons Sleeping Beds, who is bringing repurposed 1960 Chevy truck sleeping beds to sell. Perky Pineapple will sell hand-painted burlap wall art, and Nerdy Birds will have furniture and painted signs. There will be produce vendors as well as organically flavored, fresh cream butters from Chattanooga Butter Co.

* If you missed last weekend's Oktoberfest at Chattanooga Market, it's not too late to get your lederhosen on. There are three Oktoberfest celebrations from which to choose this weekend.

The Knights of Columbus, Council 6099, will host an Oktoberfest for charity on Saturday night at the Council Hall on Lee Highway. Admission is free, but all the proceeds from sales of food, raffles and other items will help fund the Knights' local charity work.

Wayne Collins says they are serving up an "authentic Old World menu" of beer brats, schnitzel, German potato salad, cabbage, kraut, dark bread and butter. Desserts, hot dogs and fries are also on the menu along with an array of imported and domestic beers.

There will be music and dancing, raffles and football on big screens.

* There are two more weekends to catch Rocktoberfest at Rock City Gardens on Lookout Mountain. As if beautiful vistas of fall's changing foliage from Lover's Leap isn't enough of a draw, Rocktoberfest offers German music and food, specialty beer, costumed characters, polka lessons, kids activities and birds of prey shows in Rock City Square.

Kids will want to visit the Fall Fairy Haus, and all ages will want a selfie using props in the "Say Oompah" photo booth.

When you drive back down the mountain, it's just a short distance to Rock City's Fall Family Festival at Blowing Springs Farm, 271 Chattanooga Valley Road in Flintstone, Ga.

"We have recently focused our attention on a fall festival rather than the maze and a haunted event," says Bill Chapin, president of See Rock City Inc. A $10 ticket is valid for admission 10 a.m.-7 p.m. every Friday through Sunday through the end of the month.

Each ticket includes four tokens, which can be used for the hayride, corn cannons, critter corral, pedal carts, cow train or duck races, among the many activities down on the farm.

* Organizers of Oktoberfest in Ooltewah say they are "keeping Bavarian traditions alive in the 37363 ZIP code," but they've given it a Southern twist. This Oktoberfest is serving barbecue with its beer.

A new barbecue cookoff has been added for this third Oktoberfest celebration. There will still be brats and pretzels, but 12 teams have entered the Lamar Johnson Classic for a shot at the $400 prize. Cambridge Square will be filled with the mouthwatering aroma of chicken and pork smoking.

In the early 1900s, Johnson ran a barbecue joint in what was known as Owl Holler, where he smoked whole hogs over pits dug in the ground and filled with charcoal. According to Ooltewah history, folks could walk up to the pits and pull meat right off the animal. Others might choose to eat their meat on bread baked by Johnson's neighbor, Ezikeal McGee.

The cookoff gets underway at 7 a.m. The Bavarian bash starts in Cambridge Square at noon with opening remarks, followed by The Wurst Band. At 1 p.m. there will be a longest-beard contest, then music and dance performances the rest of the afternoon until closing at 5 p.m. There will also be nearly 50 vendors of products and services to browse.

Contact Susan Pierce at 423-757-6284 or spierce@timesfreepress.com.