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REGISTRATION DEADLINE – MONDAY, MAY 16 AT 11:59 PM! Click here to register online

Galax, Virginia – The Blue Ridge Music Center is partnering with Junior Appalachian Musicians, Inc (JAM) to present a day of activities, workshops and performances for young old time and bluegrass musicians on Saturday, May 21. The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, the National Park Service and JAM have collaborated to extend this day camp opportunity to children in 40 JAM programs across Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and South Carolina. The event is free to participants and their families, as well as the public.

Participating children will choose three workshops or activities in the afternoon, ranging from beginner or intermediate/advanced levels of Fiddle, Guitar, Banjo, String Band, Singing & Songwriting, and Dance. Regional teaching artists will lead the workshops and include: Erika Godfrey Testerman (fiddle, Lansing, NC), Stanley Widener (guitar, Fancy Gap, VA), Lucas Pasley (claw hammer banjo, Sparta, NC), Terry Gleason (string band, Fries, VA), Jacki Spector (string band, Mount Airy, NC), Joy Blair (singing/songwriting, Johnson City, TN) and Martha Spencer (dance, Whitetop, VA).

At the close of the day, special group performances from Galax JAM (Galax, VA), Alleghany JAM (Sparta, NC), WiseJAMS (Big Stone Gap, VA), Franklin Co. JAM (Rocky Mount, VA), Transylvania JAM (Brevard, NC), and Jackson Co. JAM (Cullowhee, NC) will be held on the Music Center’s amphitheater stage.

Other activities geared to kids not currently playing a musical instrument will begin at 11 a.m. and include: a guided hike on the Music Center’s Kids in Parks High Meadow Track Trail, Junior Ranger activities, a craft activity, the American Roots Music exhibit tour, and an instrument petting zoo offered by the Blue Ridge Music Makers Guild.

The workshops will begin at 1:30 p.m. and performances will begin on stage at 5 p.m. For more information, contact Brett Martin at [email protected] or 276-773-0573.