Local festivals feature cowpeas, cannons, crafts and contests

Tayla Lynn, granddaughter of Loretta Lynn, will perform at 6:30 Saturday night to close Charleston, Tenn.'s International Cowpea Festival.
Tayla Lynn, granddaughter of Loretta Lynn, will perform at 6:30 Saturday night to close Charleston, Tenn.'s International Cowpea Festival.

With heritage festivals, the state fair, crafts fairs, a powwow and kickoff of Oktoberfest in Helen, Ga., there is literally something for everyone among the 14 festivals this coming week.

* The lowly black-eyed pea reigns supreme in Charleston, Tenn., this weekend when the International Cowpea Festival takes place Saturday, Sept. 10, in Charleston City Park. Cowpeas are better known as crowder peas or black-eyed peas. Billed as "the harvest festival with the funny name," the Cowpea Festival is a fun way for small-town Charleston to remind folks it was once the cowpea capital of the United States for the large amount of peas grown and shipped from there.

photo The Fried Green Tomato Festival in Niota, Tenn., features a children's parade.

"This unique festival is a great way to recognize an authentic agri-heritage as well as a protein-rich food that is a big part of our Southern diet," says Darlene Goins, festival co-chairman.

The highlight of the festival is the Whirlpool Cowpea Cook-off, in which professional chefs will cook their original recipes using a variety of cowpeas from Bush Brothers. Festivalgoers can taste their entries between 2 and 5 p.m. with the purchase of a $5 souvenir spoon, which also allows them to vote on their favorite.

Between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., this street party offers music, storytelling, craft and food vendors, pets and children's parades before Tayla Lynn, granddaughter of country music legend Loretta Lynn, takes the stage for a free concert from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Bring a folding chair and plan to stay the day.

All proceeds from the festival benefit operation of the Hiwassee River Heritage Center on Highway 11 in Charleston.

* A little further north up I-75, the town of Niota, Tenn., is also paying tribute to another Southern food staple. Its Fried Green Tomato Festival on Saturday benefits the upkeep of the 1853 Niota Depot, Tennessee's oldest standing depot.

The day's fun kicks off at the depot at 6 a.m. with a $7 pancake/burrito breakfast. There will be a beauty pageant, pet parade, 100 food and craft vendors, tethered hot-air balloon rides for $5 and, of course, a Green Tomato Cookoff at 1 p.m.

* McDonald Farm opens its gates for fall fun on the farm this weekend and will be open each Saturday and Sunday through Oct. 30. The farm is open for school field trips or other large groups Tuesdays through Fridays by appointment.

Old McDonald's Farm offers little city slickers and their parents the chance to experience country life for a day with hay rides, jumping into corn cribs, a barn full of critters to see, a pumpkin patch, harvest barn and hay maze to visit. There's a farmers market selling jelly, honey, crafts, fall decorations, pumpkins, T-shirts, farm toys and more to take home a souvenir of your visit.

Older kids and adults will be entertained with the 3.5-acre corn maze, Barnyard 500 pedal tractor race, Farmersgolf, pumpkin slingshot and Old McDonald's Gem Mine. Stay the day and have lunch at the Calf-A.

photo A Union soldier wields a sword during last year's re-enactment of the Battle of Tunnel Hill.
photo Union and Confederate forces face off in the Battle of Tunnel Hill re-enactment.

All these activities are included in the $12.50 admission for ages 3 and older, with the exception of additional charges for the gem mine ($4.50-$19), cow coaster ($2), Farmersgolf ($4) and pumpkin slingshot ($1).

This Saturday and Sunday, McDonald Farm offers an opening weekend special of $8 per person. Sept. 17-18 has been designated Heroes Weekend, and all military, first responders, nurses and grandparents/senior adults will receive a discounted admission of $11.

* The South rises again on Saturday and Sunday when the Battle of Tunnel Hill reenactment takes place at the historic Clisby-Austin house in Tunnel Hill, Ga.

Tunnel Hill gets its name from the 1,497-foot railroad tunnel cut through a mountain in 1849, the first railroad tunnel completed south of the Mason-Dixon Line. In November 1863, the tunnel was the site of a battle in which Union forces led by Gen. William T. Sherman tried unsuccessfully to gain control of the rail line. Sherman later made the Clisby-Austin House his headquarters in 1864.

Boyd Whitfield, president of the Tunnel Hill Historic Preservation Foundation, says reenactors come from around the Southeast to help reenact this battle, with some living historians from as far as Germany and England. Several thousand spectators are expected in tiny Tunnel Hill as well. The battlefield will be open Friday, Sept. 9, from 9 a.m. to noon for for school groups visit.

The battle reenactment takes place at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, complete with cannons firing, cavalry and artillery units and even reenactors portraying doctors performing mock surgeries in medical tents. Before and after the battles, visitors are invited to visit the camps, sutlers' tents, ask questions of the cavalry and artillerymen about their gear.

The $10 price of admission also includes tours of the tunnel and the Clisby-Austin House.

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

Festivals this week and beyond

SEPT. 8-11, 15-18, SEPT. 22-OCT. 30› Oktoberfest: Festhalle, 1074 Edelweiss Strasse, Helen, Ga., 6-10:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 6 p.m. to midnight Fridays, 1 p.m. to midnight Saturdays, 1-7 p.m. Sundays; $8 Mondays-Fridays, $10 Saturdays, free on Sundays; 46th annual celebration of German food, music, dance. www.helenchamber.comSEPT. 9-11› Battle of Tunnel Hill: 215 Clisby Austin Road, Tunnel Hill, Ga., camps open 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, $10 ages 13 and up; annual Civil War re-enactment with sutlers, mock surgeries in medical tents, cavalry, artillery, tours of historic Clisby-Austin house. BattleofTunnelHill.com.› Fried Green Tomato Festival: Main Street and Kenneth Gable Memorial Park, Niota, Tenn., 6 a.m. Saturday kickoff with pancake/burrito breakfast at Niota Depot, festival continues to 4 p.m., free festival admission, individual activity fees, proceeds benefit restoration of Niota Depot. www.facebook.com/Niota-Fried-Green-Tomato-Festival-Niota-TN-245580455487054.› International Cowpea Festival: Charleston City Park, Worth Street, Charleston, Tenn., 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, free, cookoff, crafts and food vendors, family fun field, music by Loretta Lynn’s granddaughter, Tayla Lynn. www.cowpeafestival.com› Intertribal Native Festival: City Point Park, Highway 27, Dayton, Tenn., 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, $5 ages 11 and older, free to active military and veterans, teachers and first responders; Native American crafts and food vendors, dancing, Cherokee flute players, Grand Entry 1 and 6 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday. 423-208-5749.› Meigs County Fair: Downtown Decatur, Tenn., follow signs from state highways 30 and 58, gates open 5 p.m. today and Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday, free admission. wwcthouse@aol.com.› Mountaineer Folk Festival: Fall Creek Falls State Park, 10821 Park Road, Spencer, Tenn., 7 p.m. Friday music and square dancing, noon-10 p.m. Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday, $3 per person per day or $6 for weekend; arts and crafts, two stages of music. 423-881-5708.› Railfest: Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, 4119 Cromwell Road, gates open 8:30 a.m., train departs 9 a.m. Saturday; train departs 10 a.m. Sunday, $25 adults, $20 child, ticket includes train ride; family festival with model trains, music, kids activities. www.tvrail.com.› White Oak Crafts Fair: Arts Center of Cannon County, 1424 John Bragg Highway, Woodbury, Tenn., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. CDT Saturday and Sunday, free admission, $3 parking; 75 artists exhibit along the banks of the East Fork Stones River. artscenterofcc.com.› Yellow Daisy Festival: Stone Mountain Park, 1000 Robert E. Lee Blvd., Stone Mountain, Ga., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, admission free with paid parking $15 per day; more than 400 vendors at event voted one of top three crafts shows in nation by Sunshine Artist magazine. www.stonemountainpark.com/events/yellow-daisy-festival.SEPT. 9-18› Tennessee State Fair: Tennessee State Fairgrounds, 500 Wedgewood Ave., Nashville, gates open 5:30 p.m. CDT Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. CDT Saturday, noon CDT Sunday, $8 ages 18-54, $6 ages 55 and older, $6 ages 3-17, unlimited ride wristbands $25 Monday-Friday, $30 Saturday and Sundays. www.tennesseestatefair.org.› Tennessee Valley Fair: Chilhowee Park, 3301 East Magnolia Ave., Knoxville, gates open 3 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 10 a.m. Monday, Tuesday and Saturday, noon on Sunday, $10 ages 12-64, $8 ages 65 and up, $7 ages 6-11, $7 parking per car, unlimited ride wristbands $20-$25 depending on day; midway, agriculture and home-centered contests, arts and crafts, action sports, local country star Kane Brown performs Sunday, Sept. 11. www.tnvalleyfair.org.SEPT. 10-OCT. 30› Old McDonald’s Farm Fall Festival: Old McDonald Farm, 16705 Coulterville Road, Sale Creek, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturdays, noon-7 p.m. Sundays, open Tuesdays-Fridays for large groups by appointment; $12.50 ages 3 and older, pumpkins are additional charge; family fun with cow coaster, pumpkin slingshot, hay maze, hayrides, pony rodeo, Critter Barn, pedal tractor races. www.oldmcdonaldsfarm.net.SEPT. 10-NOV. 5› Grandaddy’s Farm Fall Festival: Grandaddy’s Farm, 454 Highland Ridge Road, Estill Springs, Tenn., 1:30-6 p.m. Tusday-Thursday, 1:30-9 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday; family fun with corn maze, pumpkin patch, hillside slide, tire mountain, straw maze, pig and duck races, farm market; $10 ages 3+, half-price opening day; promotions include Hot September Nights Sept. 10, 17 and 24. grandaddysfarm.com.

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