Heritage Festival

20th Heritage Festival Art Show Winners

Best of Show was "Bridgette." Sherri Wilson, the artist, and Mayor Jason Bailey pose beside the portrait.

The Heritage Festival Art Show provided a gallery of talent at the Historic Snodderly House on Main Street. Renowned artist Betty Bullen hosted the show with volunteers, Brenda Stone, Shirley Keaton, and Nancy Bailey. Mayor Jason Bailey had the honor of awarding the ribbons to the winners at the artist reception prior to the festival. Madeleine Grace, 14, and Carson Hayes, 12, played a variety of melodic tunes as visitors strolled through the gallery.

Wild Blue Yonder Band shares the roots of Appalachian Music

Wild Blue Yonder Band: Kristiana Arnwine, Phil Coward, and Melissa Wade.

Wild Blue Yonder band returns to headline the Gospel Tent at the 20th Union County Heritage Festival.
Acoustic mountain gospel, old-time and bluegrass songs in Appalachian style are the heart and soul of Wild Blue Yonder, based in Knoxville. Fiddle, cello, mandolin, banjo, guitar and three-part harmonies combine in a rootsy blend, honoring the rich musical traditions of the Smoky Mountains and beyond.

Calling all quilters!

Quilt showcasing Union County events and landmarks.

The Union County Heritage Festival Quilt Show is Saturday October 5, at Union County Museum and will have adult and youth categories for judging.
All quilters are invited to bring your quilts to the museum on Thursday, October 3, between 1:30 and 6 p.m. Ellen Perry and Patricia Campbell will be at the museum to accept entries.

Call for artists of all ages

3D Art from the 2023 Heritage Festival

The Union County Heritage Festival Art Show will be held Saturday, October 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Historic Snodderly House, 721 Main Street, in Maynardville. Park at the house or the parking lot across from the Art Show. On Festival Day, parking is also available at Wilson Park where visitors can ride the big yellow bus free shuttle to the Art Show. New this year is a Youth Art Exhibit.
The show is a juried mixed-media exhibition open to artists of all ages. The exhibition is intended to showcase artwork produced throughout our area. There is no entry fee.

Enter Heritage Festival Youth Talent Show

A Luttrell youth plays the keyboard at the 2022 Heritage Festival.

The Union County Youth Talent Show is a new addition to the Union County Heritage Festival on Saturday, October 5. The show is not a contest. There is no entry fee. There are two shows and participants need to choose only one show. Show Times are 11 a.m. to noon and1 to 2 p.m. at Woods Music Heritage Theater, 3765 Maynardville Hwy, where the Pizza parlor used to be in Maynardville and next to the News Leader. Registration forms are available at Woods Music or online at unioncountyheritagefestival.net. and attached to this article.

Heritage Festival Pie Contest winners

Henley DeWitt with her Grand Champion Pie, Goodbye Summer Lemon Zinnia Pie

Dozens of pies lined the tables at the UT Extension Union County Conference Room as judges from the Union County Family and Consumer Education Association tasted and marked their ballots during the Heritage Festival Pie Contest.
Henley DeWitt received $100 and claimed the 2023 Grand Champion title with her pie Goodbye Summer Lemon Zinnia Pie. Kathy Venturella's Apple Pie garnered first place and $50 in the fruit category. Receiving second and third place ribbons were Ashley Mike’s Skillet Apple Pie and Mia Roach’s Key Lime Pie.

Evie Andrus and Friends headlines 19th Heritage Festival

Evie Andrus, fiddler extraordinaire

Evie Andrus and Friends will headline the Union County Heritage Festival on the Emily Link Gazebo Main Stage on October 7.
Andrus has been performing her unique style of fiddle playing since she was six years old. Her family band, Family Ties, toured around North and South Dakota, Minnesota and Canada throughout her high school years. But it was her passion for bluegrass that brought her to East Tennessee after she encountered an East Tennessee Bluegrass act called Blue Moon Rising.

Heritage Festival call for artists

This painting by Tim Michelle received an Honorable Mention at the 2022 Heritage Festival Art Show.

Get your paintbrush, camera, carving tools, lathes, potters wheel or any other artistic tool ready to create a piece to enter the Union County Heritage Art Show on October 7, 2023.
Betty Bullen, noted regional artist from Union County will host the event at the Historic Snodderly House at 721 Main Street in Maynardville.

Faye Hardin's 'Thunder Road' receives Best Heritage in festival art show

Best Heritage Award in the 2022 Union county Heritage Festival Art Show is Faye Hardin's Thunder Road.

Not only is Union County known for its country music legends, but also for having a stretch of the famous Thunder Road. Thunder Road was definitely on Faye Hardin's mind when she created the painting that won Best Heritage in the 2022 Union County Heritage Festival Art Show. This was Faye's second year to receive the Best Heritage Award.

Museum becomes a tapestry of quilts for Heritage Festival

Patricia Walker's Best Heritage Quilt for 2022

Thirty-five quilts from hand stitched to machine designed adorned the Union County Museum upper floor for the 2022 Union County Heritage Festival Quilt Show on October 1. Coordinating the event were Ellen Perry, Patricia Campbell, and Cleta Nelson Garner. The judges awarded hand stitched, quilted ribbons for a variety of categories.
Mitzi Talley took Best of Show and Best Patriotic Quilt awards. Patricia Walker received an award for the Best Heritage Quilt, Best Small Holiday Quilt, and the Best Small Quilted Item.

Music warmed hearts at festival, contest winners listed

Stoney Point Bluegrass Band headlined the 2022 Union County Heritage Festival.

It was a cold, windy October day, but nearly 1,000 warm-hearted folks came to visit the 18th Annual Union County Heritage Festival last month. The festival was packed with experienced musicians who performed live music throughout the event. On the Gazebo Stage sponsored by Jaxx, Southern Spirit performed Back to Tennessee, Old Stuff, and sneaked in a preview of a tune from their new album that debuts in January.

Call for Heritage Fest Art Show submissions, festival vendors

2021 First Place Photo by Patrick Hurley entitled "Reflections"

The Union County Heritage Festival Art Show will take place during the October 1 event at the Myers Building (formerly Byrd Funeral Home) at 502 Monroe Street in Maynardville. Parking will be available at the lot across from the art show or at the courthouse. On festival day, parking is also available at Wilson Park where visitors can ride the big yellow bus free shuttle sponsored by State Farm Insurance and Plainview City to the art show.

Heritage festival call for quilts

The 18th Union County Heritage Festival encourages all area quilters to enter the Union County Heritage Festival Quilt Show on October 1 at the Union County Museum and is sponsored by the Union County Historical Society.
Intricately crafted ribbons are given in a variety of categories. A special recognition is awarded for the Best Heritage Quilt, the quilt that best exemplifies the festival theme or the general heritage of Union County. The 2022 theme is “Follow your Heart” and is a tribute to Carl Smith and the many love songs he recorded.

Heritage Festival 2021 art show announces winners

Woman looks surprised in front of painting with a large ribbon that says Best Heritage

Faye Hardin is surprised that her abstract of Roy Acuff, Chet Atkins and Carl Smith won Best Heritage at the 2021 Union County Heritage Festival Art Show.

The Union County Heritage Festival Art Show on October 2 had nearly 100 entries. Betty Bullen and her staff welcomed numerous artists and tourists to Union County.

Nearly 3000 visit 16th UC Heritage Festival

The crowd flocked to Wilson Park to hear Flashback perform at the 2021 Union County Heritage Festival. Don Rigsby on mandolin, Curt Chapman on bass, Richard Bennet on guitar, and Stuart Wyrick on banjo.

Nearly 3,000 visitors answered the Union County Heritage Festival invitation to “Take a Country Road” to historic Maynardville, the cradle of country music, for the 16th annual event on October 2.

'Take a Country Road' to the 16th Union County Heritage Festival

tents at a festival

Craft vendors and demonstrators at the 2018 Festival

As the 2021 theme says, tourists from area counties as well as several states plan to “Take a Country Road” for the Union County Heritage Festival on Saturday, October 2.
Just follow Thunder Road (Hwy 33) and Wilson Lane to all of the festivities in Wilson Park. Visitors can board the free shuttle (the big yellow bus) sponsored by Monroe Bus Lines, State Farm Insurance, and City of Plainview to view the Quilt Show, talk to the authors, and eat some country cookin' at the Union County Museum.

"Cutting Time" by Betty Bullen is Heritage Fest collectible print

A field of tobacco with a tractor and a barn.

"Cutting Time," the 2021 Union County Heritage Festival collectible print by Betty Bullen

When the Union County Heritage Festival (UCHF) committee announced the theme for the 2021 Heritage Festival to be "Take A Country Road," my mind immediately went to what a one might have seen as he or she traveled down a country road in Union County some fifty-plus years ago. For sure, one would have seen a tobacco patch, or 'bakker patch' as it might have been called back then.

Call for pie bakers

Picture of a pie for pie contest

“Take a Country Road” to UT Extension Union County, 3925 Maynardville Highway, on Wednesday, September 29, and bring your best pie to enter the Union County Heritage Festival Pie Baking Contest.
UT Extension Union County will host the pie contest. Alyshia Victoria, Food and Consumer Science Agent, will be the coordinator.
Fruit, nut, and other are the categories. Winning pie bakers will receive cash prizes and ribbons.

UC Heritage Festival Quilt Show call for entries

Quilt with various shapes on a patchwork design

Quilt from 2019 Festival

It’s time to get those quilts ready for the 16th Annual Union County Heritage Festival Quilt Show on October 2, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Union County Museum at 3824 Maynardville Highway in Maynardville.
All quilters are invited to bring their quilts to the museum on Thursday, September 30, between 1:30 and 6 p.m. Ellen Perry and Patricia Campbell will be at the museum to accept entries. Quilts will be judged and ribbons placed to be ready for viewing on Saturday during the festival.

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