HOW TO GO
What: First Annual Appalachian Heritage Music Fest, “Bluegrass at the Ball Fields”
Where: North End Athletic Fields, Joe Nuxhall Blvd., Hamilton
When: Sunday, Sept. 13, 1 to 8 p.m.
Cost: Free. Items from on-site food vendors will be available for purchase.
More info: Visit RENEW on Facebook and the Bluegrass at the Ball Fields event page on Facebook.
HAMILTON – A newly created festival will celebrate the area’s Appalachian culture and heritage. It will bring the community together for a day of food, music and fun as they get to know their neighbors.
The First Annual Appalachian Heritage Music Fest, “Bluegrass at the Ball Fields,” will be held on Sunday, Sept. 13 from 1 to 8 p.m. at the North End Athletic Fields. The event is sponsored by Miami University Regionals Appalachian Studies and presented by RENEW (Renewing the North End from Within).
“As a 17 Strong committee, our vision really is to do a festival that goes beyond music. We’d like to see some arts and crafts vendors that celebrate Appalachian culture, and tell the story of the neighborhood, but we decided to focus on music for the first year,” said Beth Bachmann, event organizer and neighborhood lead for RENEW. “Our hope is to incorporate all areas of Appalachian culture, including historic information about Hamilton and how it was populated, and how people came to migrate here.”
“I’ve been interested in the efforts of 17 Strong. As a person that has taught Appalachian Studies, and as the chair of the committee that is developing Appalachian Studies for the regional campuses, I am aware that several of the communities in Hamilton have an Appalachian heritage in their populations, so we would like to interact with them and support the development of sense of community in those areas,” said Curtis Ellison, director Michael J. Colligan History Project and chair, Appalachian Studies Steering Committee, Miami University Hamilton.
The North End community has, historically, had a significant Appalachian population, he said.
“Our job in Appalachian Studies is to explore the history, culture and heritage of the Appalachian life in the Miami Valley,” Ellison said.
The Appalachian Studies program at the regional campuses consists of scholarships, academic opportunities, music, public programs, oral history and partnerships.
“As far as the North End, we want to support the community’s own initiative to explore and encourage their connections to Appalachian heritage and culture,” Ellison said.
The history of the Miami Valley, generally, and Hamilton in particular, has been very significantly impacted by migration from the Appalachian Mountains to this area, beginning in the early 20th century.
“When people come from the Appalachian Mountains, they bring with them their customs, traditions, religious practices and family experiences,” Ellison said. “They grow and thrive in a new location, where perhaps, economic opportunity has attracted them, but they live here and they keep their traditions very much alive, and that’s what we’re interested in exploring. We are interested in understanding it better, and in helping the students and the public have a deeper sense of what that means in this area.”
Entertainment for the day will include performances by The Back Porch Hounds from 1 to 3 p.m.; The Pineridge Partners from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and Ma Crow and the Lady Slippers from 6 to 8 p.m.
“Anytime you have people out, you can bring everyone together,” said Bachmann. “I’m looking forward to meeting new neighbors, and I’m also excited about bringing people to the North End. There are so many great things going on in Hamilton. I really want to make sure the North End is a part of that, bringing the North End into it, and making sure that we grow as Hamilton grows.”
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