2026 Workshops

Check back throughout the summer for updates and additions.

Keeping the Tradition Alive: The Art of Singing and Sharing Appalachian Ballads
Traditional ballads have been passed from generation to generation for centuries, carried not by sheet music but through memory, family, and community. In this workshop, we’ll explore the distinctive style of Appalachian ballad singing through live examples and discussion of stylistic quirks and storytelling traditions that make these songs unique, as well as the reasons singers developed these approaches.
The workshop will also cover practical techniques for learning, memorizing, and performing long narrative ballads, drawing from the presenters' own experiences as tradition bearers. Participants will gain tools for making these songs their own while remaining rooted in the tradition.
Located in the Workshop Tent.

The jarana is an eight-string, five course instrument typically used in son jarocho. The first and fifth courses of the jarana are single strings, while the second, third, and fourth courses typically consist of double strings. The most common tuning is G C E A G. While you may not have your own jarana to bring to this workshop (but be sure to bring it if you do!) anyone with interest in stringed instruments from non-NC cultural traditions will enjoy this discussion.
Located in the Workshop Tent.

Janie Rothfield will teach a fun Uncle Norm Edmonds Tune and show you how to add power and rhythm to this tune with a focus on your right hand power and rhythm techniques for fiddle, clawhammer banjo and back up guitar. Bring your instruments for this full ensemble workshop!
Located in the Workshop Tent.

Recipient of SouthArts/NC Arts Council’s Folk & Traditional Master Artist Fellowship Award, Rodney Clay Sutton teaches traditional flatfoot dancing in this relaxed-atmosphere workshop. Having learned Appalachian flatfoot dance from mentor Willard Watson over fifty years ago, Rodney brings this wealth of experience, plus his continued education afforded to him by the fellowship in Sean Nos` dance – the Irish step-dance equivalent to flat-footing. Though you can wear any kind of footwear for this intro class, smooth soled shoes with a low heel are the best shoes for this workshop.
Located in the Dance Tent.

Suggested for ages 5 and up, this workshop provides a basic introduction to clogging, just for kids! Participants will learn fundamental clogging steps through fun, confidence-building exercises. They’ll also have opportunities to express themselves creatively with this energetic dance tradition. Comfortable, closed-toe shoes are recommended. Tampa Enoch is an educator, dancer and musician from Mebane, North Carolina. At an early age, she learned to flatfoot and buck dance from her grandmother, and she carries the tradition forward by teaching percussive dance to children both in her family and in the wider community. Tampa has been a member of Chapel Hill’s Cane Creek Cloggers since 2014 and has worked in public libraries as a youth services librarian for 19 years. In her free time she enjoys playing banjo and sharing about the rich and complex history of the instrument.
Located in the Dance Tent.

Based in Hillsborough, the Apple Chill Cloggers have been performing traditional dance here in North Carolina and internationally since 1975. Come meet us and learn clogging basics! No experience necessary. We will show you several steps and try them out to live music, then teach a simple group dance. All ages welcome.
Located in the Dance Tent.