Music Performance at the Event Tent: Kinnfolk

KINNFOLK – the husband and wife duo of Josh and Julie Kinn – weave octave mandolin, bodhrán (Irish drum), and smooth vocal harmonies into their Celtic folk music from the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. From sea shanties and working songs, to trad tunes and Old Time favorites, Kinnfolk’s fresh take on classics blends seamlessly with their original compositions. They share stories as enduring as tartan, spinning yarns steeped in Appalachian charm and enjoying playful banter with the audience. Their shows feel like a kitchen party, where everyone is family, and there’s always room for a dancer. 

Madeline Hoge: Ancestral Footprints: Turning Family Research into Lasting Narratives

If you’re chasing your ancestors, this year’s Mary Draper Ingles Festival has a workshop for you.

Madeline Hoge, a historiographer and author who lives on the historic family farm Belle-Hampton in Southwest Virginia, will take participants through a structured yet personal journeyof discovering their roots utilizing interviews with relatives and various research tools.Hoge says “uncovering and sharing your family story is a powerful way to preserve legacy,foster connection, and strengthen identity across generations.”The presentation will explore how to craft and communicate your family narrative in ways thatare meaningful and lasting. Whether your goal is to publish a family history book, create a documentary, host a storytelling night, or pass on a set of recorded interviews, you’ll learntechniques to bring your ancestors to life.

Belle-Hampton Farm holds a storied legacy in Virginia, dating back to 1767.

Music Performance at the Event Tent: Kinnfolk

KINNFOLK – the husband and wife duo of Josh and Julie Kinn – weave octave mandolin, bodhrán (Irish drum), and smooth vocal harmonies into their Celtic folk music from the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. From sea shanties and working songs, to trad tunes and Old Time favorites, Kinnfolk’s fresh take on classics blends seamlessly with their original compositions. They share stories as enduring as tartan, spinning yarns steeped in Appalachian charm and enjoying playful banter with the audience. Their shows feel like a kitchen party, where everyone is family, and there’s always room for a dancer. 

Come learn Thomas Ingles’s story through the eyes of expert interpreter Doug Wood from West Virginia. Follow the Ingles son during the summer of 1775 as he returns home from military duty along the Ohio River. Thomas, who along with his mother, was taken captive by the Shawnees in 1755. However, the four-year-old remained with the tribe for a number of years. Bythe age of 17, he returned to his family, and was schooled to become a Virginia gentleman. At the age of 23, he served Virginia in the war led by Royal Governor Lord Dunmore against his former Shawnee nation. After the decisive Battle of Point Pleasant, Thomas served as a liaison between Shawnees and Virginians while stationed at the Point. Onlookers will hear the story of how this young man lived in both the Indian and the European settler worlds. This year is the 250 th anniversary of Dunmore’s War in Western Virginia, a major stepping-stone to the Revolutionary War.

Glencoe Mansion Museum & Gallery open 10am-4pm

New History Exhibit: “Mary Draper Ingles: Steps to Revolution”

Art Exhibit: “Celebrating Appalachia”

Music Performance at the Event Tent: Ricky Cox and Willard Gayheart

Willard Gayheart is a fine guitar player, singer, recording artist, and songwriter who grew up in Cordia, Kentucky. When he was twelve, it took him a year to earn the $3.00 necessary to buy his first guitar. After he and his wife moved to Galax in 1962, he dove into the southwestern Virginia music scene. James Lindsey and the Mountain Ramblers was the first band he joined. He has also been a founding member of the Highlanders, Skeeter and the Skidmarks, and Alternate Roots.

Indian Valley’s Ricky Cox has been entertaining and educating many of us for decades. Throughout his teaching career at Radford University he shared the history and culture of our region through his music and writing, earning a number of special recognitions along the way. Ricky contributed his photographic talents to the second of two books featuring Willard Gayheart’s drawings.

Ricky’s friendship with Willard Gayheart also goes back thirty-five years. This shows in the programs they present together, harmonizing and appreciating one another’s contributions as they delight their audiences.

Silent Auction to Benefit Park Honoring Mary: 10 AM- 3 PM

The Radford Photo Club will sponsor a silent auction during the Mary Draper Ingles Festival on Saturday, July 26. Many members of the club will donate at least one framed photo to be part of the fundraiser.  The photos will be displayed on tables next to the Event Tent.  Those bidding will place their name, phone number and bid on a sheet for the specific photo that they want. At 3 p.m. that day, the bid sheets will be collected, and the winner of the photos called.  They will be asked to pay their bid and pick up the photo at Glencoe Mansion. All proceeds raised will be used for continuing the growth and preservation of the Mary Draper Ingles Cultural Heritage Park located adjacent to the museum. Linda Waggaman, a member of the Radford Heritage Foundation, is coordinating the event.

Join the staff of the Radford Public Library for summer reading fun!

Enjoy Blacksmith demonstrations by John Tilton

Dina Smith-Glaviana is an assistant professor of fashion merchandising and design and the director of the Oris Glisson Historic Costume and Textile Collection.

She first gained experience in historic collections management by working in the University of Georgia Historic Clothing and Textile Collection while pursuing her master’s degree in textiles, merchandising, and interiors.

Fine shaved ice from Lizard Licks Snowballs!

A food truck serving burgers, hot dogs, chicken tenders, fries, onion rings, grilled cheese.

The Radford Farmer’s Market will have extended hours until 3pm!

Mary Draper Ingles Park open dawn-dusk

Glencoe Mansion Museum & Gallery open 10am-4pm

New History Exhibit: “Mary Draper Ingles: Steps to Revolution”

Art Exhibit: “Celebrating Appalachia”

Mary Draper Ingles Park open dawn-dusk

Dianne Anestis again joins her husband, Doug Wood, at the festival. She will present 18th century uses of medicinal and edible plants and will tie the cultural exchange of knowledge and skills from Amerindians to such frontier newcomers as Mary Draper Ingles, Betty Draper, Mrs.Jacobs (the old “Dutch” (German) woman) and other newcomers to the Virginia frontier. Dianne will bring fresh samples of various native plants, tinctures and salves for demonstration.

Art Show continues; Historical Clothing Exhibit Continues; exhibit and video on Mary Draper Ingles and other exhibits on Native Americans and the Civil War; Statue and New River Train Observatory sites open to visitors.

This entertaining duo will present traditional music of early America on a variety of instruments including mandolin, fiddle, guitar and gourd banjo. The audience will be treated with authentic old-time banjo tunes, flat-pickin’ bluegrass and southern mountain music. Nominated for a Governor’s Award for the Arts, the Carys have entertained at the White House and the Kennedy Center.

At the Glencoe Mansion Event Tent

The performance is being sponsored in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

This entertaining duo will present traditional music of early America on a variety of instruments including mandolin, fiddle, guitar and gourd banjo. The audience will be treated with authentic old-time banjo tunes, flat-pickin’ bluegrass and southern mountain music. Nominated for a Governor’s Award for the Arts, the Carys have entertained at the White House and the Kennedy Center.

At the Glencoe Mansion Event Tent

The performance is being sponsored in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The “New York Times” bestselling author has done it again with her richly detailed story of an indigenous woman in 19th-century North America. Titled “Crow Mary,” the novel is inspired by the real life of a Crow Native woman, who marries a white fur trader, and soon is caught between two cultures. “Publishers Weekly” notes that “this moving story of one woman’s grit, survival, and resilience will keep readers turning the pages.” A native of Canada, Ms. Grissom now makes her home in southside Virginia.  Following the talk, Kathleen Grissom will be signing copies of her book, which will be available for purchase.

At the Glencoe Mansion Event Tent

This entertaining duo will present traditional music of early America on a variety of instruments including mandolin, fiddle, guitar and gourd banjo. The audience will be treated with authentic old-time banjo tunes, flat-pickin’ bluegrass and southern mountain music. Nominated for a Governor’s Award for the Arts, the Carys have entertained at the White House and the Kennedy Center.

At the Glencoe Mansion Event Tent

The performance is being sponsored in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

This award-winning Southern writer and “New York Times” bestseller will talk about her book, “King’s Mountain,” that is set in the same era as the Mary Draper Ingles story. The ballad novel tells the story of how a militia of men from southwest Virginia and western North and South Carolina came to fight one of the important battles of the Revolutionary War on the southern frontier. McCrumb, the recipient of numerous literary awards, has been named a “Woman of the Arts” by the national Daughters of the American Revolution. Following the talk, Sharyn McCrumb will be signing copies of her book, which will be available for purchase.

At the Glencoe Mansion Event Tent

A multi-artist show themed on the life and times of Ingles.

Using historically accurate sources, and in her own engaging style, Kathleen will transport the audience to the colony of Virginia in 1775. She will tell Mary’s story from the massacre in Drapers Meadow, including her harrowing 800 mile journey through the wilderness, to her joyful reunion with her husband, William, four months later. Kathleen will welcome questions after the presentation.Kathleen Harvey Harshberger is a graduate of the Radford University Theatre Department and co-author with Wesley A Young of the play Walk To Freedom: The Mary Draper Ingles Story.

At the Glencoe Mansion Event Tent

Join the Little Critters Traveling Petting Zoo for a fun time with cute animals.

Doug Wood honors his Cherokee ancestors by telling the story of the efforts of Ostenaco during the French and Indian War. This military leader recruited warriors, led war parties and conducted diplomatic missions. In the winter of 1756, he led an army of Cherokees against the Shawnees, the tribal nation responsible for the attack on the village of Mary Draper Ingles at Draper’s Meadow. This Chautauqua style presentation is made possible with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council “History Alive! Program.” Eighteenth century Cherokee lifeways also will be highlighted.

At the Glencoe Mansion Event Tent.