It’s not too long until the Longman Festival

Juan Holliday of The Secret B-Sides posted this on Facebook today:

“You may have missed our short set opening for Dead Prez this past Saturday, because
A) it was too late for the kids
B) ticket price was too high
C) not enough B-Sides, or
D) none of the above.
This upcoming Saturday, Oct. 13, the Secret B-Sides play the first ever annual Longman Festival. Reasons to go:
A) music and kid-friendly scenerio from noon to 8 p.m.
B) competitive ticket prices for all day fun
C) B-Sides headline (with Common Foundation horns!) from 6:40 p.m. to 8 p.m., or
D) all of the above.”

It would be hard to write a better pitch for the brand new and fast-approaching Longman Festival. The day-long event is held Saturday, Oct. 13 from noon to 8 p.m. on the Asheville Outdoor Center Festival Grounds (521 Amboy Rd.), with parking at 23 Hominy Creek Rd.

The festival was dreamed up by local promoters The Lama Agency, who pass on this story about the Longman name: “One of the names that The Cherokee People called the French Broad River was ‘Agiqua’.  Translated into English, Agiqua (pronounced Ah-geeg-wah) means Long Man. It is the third oldest river on Earth, and has flowed through Asheville and the ancient Appalachian Mountains for centuries. Today, the agricultural heritage, musical genius, glorious landscapes, environmental awareness and unique individuals that thrive on the Long Man are unlike any place else on the Planet.”

Festival happenings include hour-long rafting tours of the French Broad, featuring “musicians, jugglers, hula hoopers, and plenty of surprises waiting along the riverbanks.” There’s a kids’ zone, a corn hole tourney, vendors (food, beer, crafts) and nearly a dozen bands.

Besides the Secret B-Sides, you can dance to Appalachian-Americana artist Pierce Edens; Avett Brothers patriarch and country songs-plus-ballads performer Jim Avett; self-described hillbilly gut rockers Skunk Ruckus; power jazz-jam-blues-improv trio Anomaly; reggae/rocksteady/ska collective Common Foundation; rootsy-folky harmony-saturated sextet The Judy Chops; folk-rockers John Wilkes Boothe and the Black Toothe; world music outfit Shantavaani and jazz/blues trio Linda Mitchell and The Electric Cabaret.

Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 day of event for adults, $10 for teens, $5 for children ages 10 and under. A family pack for two adults and up to three kids ages 10 and under is $53.

Xpress will give away one family pack on Wednesday, Oct. 10 in the noon hour via Facebook.

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About Alli Marshall
Alli Marshall has lived in Asheville for more than 20 years and loves live music, visual art, fiction and friendly dogs. She is the winner of the 2016 Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize and the author of the novel "How to Talk to Rockstars," published by Logosophia Books. Follow me @alli_marshall

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