LIFE'S BETTER IN THE MOUNTAINS

Monday, June 18, 2012

Small Town Festivals

Memorial Day kicks off our summer festival season.  Milwaukee had huge ones by the lakefront.  Ours may be small, but the festivals in Brevard are lots of fun.  In fact, we close off main street so many times you really need to know the detours if you want to travel through.  On the other hand, why would you want to travel through and not stop?

Our two largest festivals are the White Squirrel Festival held on Memorial Day weekend and Halloweenfest (since we are in Transylvania County).



Folks and vendors on Main Street looking West.





Two of these guard our really cool toy store.
(Its name is O.P. Taylor's.)





A new booth at the festival.
The Transylvania Tea Party





This little guy is 21 months old.
And yes, he could put up his feet and coast on it.




The Transylvania County Court House
at a surprisingly quiet moment.





The wreaths in honor of our war veterans.





Looking east on Main.



There are always activities for the children and a big White Squirrel Soapbox Derby down jailhouse hill.  Lots of young people build and race their cars.  We have separate races among the various downtown merchants.  They really go all out.

I go to all these festivals and love every one.  In Milwaukee we tended to avoid them because of the huge crowds.  At our festivals we have plenty of room to walk, to stop and to socialize.  Best of all...I have never once had anyone spill a beer on me.  If you want to experience that, go to Milwaukee's Summerfest.  The music is fantastic, the fireworks are among the best, but the crowds are loud and often obnoxious.  And occasionally you can catch the waft of smoke from the weed smokers, smoking grass on the non-seated grassy section of the amphitheater.  A good thing or a bad thing...just depends.

Fine, call me geezer.  That's why I live in the quiet mountains.


11 comments:

Cheryl said...

Brevard sounds great to me and the images are lovely.
Very similar to the fetes and fairs we have in our village.
Like you, that is why we moved to the country, the quieter life suits us much better :-}

Ms. A said...

Love your photos! My sister just got back from being up your way. Wish I could have gone!

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

I love small town festivals....LOVE the giant Playmobil Roman soldier -- my girls have so many Playmobil pieces to include a Victorian house and a farm.

Taradharma said...

looks and sounds grand. I also appreciate not having beer spilled on me.

Jill said...

Nothing like a small town..Your pictures are beautiful!

Lise said...

I share your sentiments, small town festivals are great. Sylva held "Greening Up the Mountains" not too long ago, it was wonderful...no spilled beer here either:) In Florida, there are some huge festivals, and though we typically skipped them, when we did go, I always felt like I needed to be on one of those child-type "leashes" (that sounds ugly, but you know what I am talking about), just to be sure I didn't get lost, LOL~!

Busy Bee Suz said...

LOL! You are far from a geezer.....I don't enjoy beer being spilled on me {anymore} and the wafting of the weed smokers always makes me hungry!!!
Your small town festivals sound just perfect.
xo

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Small town festivals are always great to attend. The annual July 4the non-motorized parade is the next big event in this area.

George said...

I don't think anything can beat a small town festival. Your festivals remind me of the ones we enjoyed when we lived in Black Mountain.

Rudee said...

I like small town festivals, too. Too bad I don't live closer to a small town. I have to go in search of them.

That little guy on his bike is adorable!

NCmountainwoman said...

Thanks for your comments, everyone.

Ms A - Wish you had been here too.

Janet - Our kids loved them too. There is another O.P. Taylor's near Asheville and the sentinels are about 12 feet tall.

Suz - Thanks a bunch.

Rudee - I couldn't stop looking at the tyke. Amazing balance for such a little guy.