Back-to-back festivals Saturday

“Cotton is King” again in Hartsville during twin, back-to-back festivals honoring the town’s agricultural heritage, according to Marty Driggers, volunteer coordinator of the 2009 Coker Farm’s Fall Festival.

Two of Hartsville’s fall festivals are piggy-backing on Saturday to provide continuous activities and entertainment from morning to late evening. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, the 2009 Coker Farm’s Fall Festival will take place at the farm’s National Historic Landmark site on South Fourth Street across from Wal-Mart. Then, from 2 to 9:30 p.m., the 2009 Cotton Harvest Bluegrass Festival will take place downtown in the Center Theater. Then on Sunday, a free gospel concert featuring some of the musicians from Saturday’s event will be held at 10:30 a.m. at Wesley United Methodist Church at the corner of College Avenue and Fourth Street.

Both festivals are featured events along The South Carolina Cotton Trail.

Partners for the twin fall festivals are The South Carolina Cotton Trail, Coker Farms National Historic Landmark, the Hartsville Downtown Development Association (HDDA) and the City of Hartsville. The South Carolina Cotton Trail is a significant rural tourist attraction celebrating the historic and economic significance of cotton to our area. This trail extends from Bishopville through Hartsville, Darlington, Cheraw and Bennettsville.

Judi Elvington, executive director of HDDA, said that Hartsville’s partnering of the two fall festivals has positioned them both to take advantage of a growing national interest in rural tourism.

Agriculture continues to be a strong part of the Pee Area’s economy and may become even more important during the 21st Century, Elvington said.

Seeds from Coker’s Pedigreed Seed Company spread across the globe, and today most of world’s total cotton production can be directly traced to seeds developed at Coker Farms, Driggers added.

The Coker Farms Barn on South Fourth Street is a self-guided learning center, and is the site of the Coker Farm’s 2009 Fall Festival. The festival will feature vintage tractors, wagon rides, cotton picking, open bluegrass music jamming and free hot dogs and drinks.

Saturday afternoon and evening, the 2009 Cotton Harvest Bluegrass Festival will take place at Center Theater as a continuous concert from 2 to 9:30 p.m. and will celebrate the state’s rural musical heritage. Advance tickets are $8 and are $10 at the box office. Children under 12 will be admitted free of charge.

Appearing will be the Hager’s Mountain Boys of Roxboro, N.C., Deeper Shade of Blue of Monroe, N.C., Slope Valley of Hartsville and Cyprus Run of the Pee Dee area. The festival helps draw attention to bluegrass music’s popularity in this area and to promote interest in the RenoFest Bluegrass Festival held annually in March.

The spotlight will be on the Hager’s Mountain Boys, winner of the 2009 State Championship Bluegrass Band Contest held at Hartsville’s 2009 RenoFest Bluegrass Festival. The group won the 2009 band contest which attracted bands from as far away as Alaska, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida and features a talented group of musicians.  They will play at 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. 

Cyprus Run, a new Pee Dee area band, featuring an outstanding 14-year-old fiddler Worth Lewallen of Timmonsville, will open the festival at 2 p.m. The group will also perform at 6 p.m.

Deeper Shade of Blue is one of eastern North Carolina’s premier bluegrass bands which regularly appears at many outstanding bluegrass events. The band will perform at 3:40 p.m. and 6:50 p.m.

Slope Valley is Hartsville’s own contribution to bluegrass music and will act as host band for the 2009 event. Slope Valley will play at 2:50 p.m. and 7:40 p.m.