Brevard, NC. (White Squirrel Festival) - North Carolina's nuttiest event, the annual White Squirrel Festival, enters it fourth year with a strong line up of musical talent for the free two day event. Headliners includes The Firecracker Jazz Band, The Patrick Smith Band, The Mad Tea Party, Hobex and High Windy.
"We felt this was a great opportunity to showcase this area's amazing musical talent and do it free of charge," stated John Felty, organizer of the musical portion of the event. "We have several local bands in additiion to the main acts, and they show a lot of promise." The event will be held downtown and performed on a full sized covered stage with full lighting and sound.
The White Squirrel Festival is organized by The Heart of Brevard, a non-profit downtown merchant association, with the goal of highlighting the uniqueness of Transylvania County. In addition to having more waterfalls than any other county in the U.S., the county also lays claim to having the now famous White Squirrels.
"They came here in the 1950's as a local resident's pets," states Madrid Zimmerman, Executive Director of Heart of Brevard. "They eventually got loose and populated the entire downtown area." According to a yearly census, the White Squirrels now comprise 25% of the squirrel population in Brevard. "In addition to the great music, we will also be providing guided tours to see the litter critters," Zimmerman continues. "Some people come here thinking the squirrels are just made up, but they are real!" she insisted.
The other big addition to this year's event is the first ever Squirrel Box downhill derby. This gravity racing event allows both kids, adults and businesses to race hand built go carts down "Jailhouse Hill" in downtown Brevard, in hopes of winning a trophy. Categories include "Nuttiest," "Squirreliest," "Fastest Critter," and "Road Kill." The overall winner will receive the coveted "Golden Nut" award for overall best entry. Racing details and an application form can be found at the White Squirrel Festival contests page.
A complete list of the musical line up can be found at White Squirrel Festival music page. The current lineup includes the following groups.
Saturday May 26th, 2007
Davidson River Taiko 11:30 -12:15 pm
Othello Jazz Quintet 12:30 - 1:15 pm
Galan Kipar 1:30 - 2:15 pm
Mark Yaxley 2:30 - 3:15 pm
Rising Appalachia 3:30 - 4:15 pm
Mariachi Mexico 4:30 - 5:30 pm
High Windy 5:45 - 6:45 pm
Hobex 7:00 - 8:10 pm
Patrick Smith Band 8:30 - 10:00 pm
Sunday May 27th, 2007
Cletus Baltimore 12:00-12:45 pm
Moon Shine Babies 1:00-1:45 pm
Roy Chapman 2:00-2:45 pm
Lyndsay Wojcik 3:00-3:45 pm
Meridian 4:00-4:45 pm
The Mad Tea Party 5:00-6:00 pm
Shannon Whitworth 6:15-7:15 pm
Sol Driven Train 7:30-8:30 pm
Firecracker Jazz Band 8:45-10:15 pm
