Marion, VA- Marty Stuart, Jesse McReynolds and the Virginia Boys, Larry Sparks and the Lonesome Ramblers, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Karl Shiflett and the Big Country Show and many others will be part of the Song of the Mountains-Smyth County Celebration's first annual festival scheduled for June 28^th thru 30^th at the Davis Valley Winery in Groseclose, VA. “National and regional performers make up the schedule for this exciting event”, states Tim White, executive coordinator of Song of the Mountains. “Most of the artists performing at our festival this year have also performed on our nationally syndicated PBS-Song of the Mountains television program. Our lineup of talent is second to none and we are excited about our first outdoor event starting this year” says White.

The location for the festival is the Davis Valley Winery which is 9 miles north of Marion, VA just off exit 54 on I-81 in Groseclose, VA. “We have a beautiful amphitheater at our winery which overlooks our vineyard and the Southern Appalachian Mountains”, says Rusty Cox, owner of the winery. “I am pleased to make our facility available to Song of the Mountains and the Smyth County Celebration and to support their efforts for our community and region.”

The festival is a combination of ideas from the Song of the Mountains committee and the Smyth County Celebration committee. “Both organizations had the dream to present an event in Smyth County to promote our region and the music which originated here”, states Charlie Clark, chairman of the Smyth County Celebration, “Working together seemed a natural way to organize this festival and will successfully achieve the goals of both organizations without duplicating one another. This festival promises to be one of the best in Virginia and we have a terrific lineup of acts for our first event, we urge everyone to come out and support this.”

Along with the music there will also be plenty of good food available and several vendors selling their merchandise also. A special attraction at the festival will be the traveling “Bluegrass Bus” museum, which will be sponsored by the Appalachian Cultural Music Association (ACMA). The 1940s era bus features artifacts from bluegrass and old time music artists dating back to the 1930s and is always a favorite display wherever it displayed. Besides the great lineup of talent on stage there will be plenty of interesting things to see on the festival site the entire weekend.