It’s that time of year when our mountain turns pink and we dance with strangers in the street! We can help you check both of those off of your bucket list this year!
The 69th annual North Carolina Rhododendron Festival celebrates the blooming of the world’s largest display of naturally blooming rhododendron, high atop Roan Mountain. If you haven’t seen acres of bright pink blooming rhododendron taller than Paul Bunyan, then you don’t want to miss this! You need to plan your trip carefully as the rhododendron blooms don’t hang around for long. Each year the NC Rhododendron Festival is scheduled the third weekend in June and if you plan your trip then, you can catch the festival activities as well as have the best chance of being one of the lucky ones to see our mountain turn pink!
The Festival takes place on two days beginning on Friday, June 19th with the first night of competition at the NC Rhododendron pageant as well as the first night of the popular street dance. That’s right…a street dance. Hundreds of people from far and wide join together in the middle of downtown Bakersville to square dance, line dance and cut their own individual rug to the live bluegrass tunes of the Wisemans. It’s also one of those bucket list kinds of things you need to check off!
Saturday’s activities include a family-friendly street fair with arts, crafts and food vendors, a classic car show, helicopter rides, tours of Roan Mountain, a 10K run, live entertainment on the Creekwalk and a ducky derby. New for 2015 is the addition of the Bakersville Creekwalk . Held traditionally in September, this juried arts festival will add dozens of talented artists and craftsmen to the event. Saturday evening features the second round of competition and crowning of the new NC Rhododendron Queens beginning at 7:00pm at Bowman Middle School. The festival concludes with a final round of square dancing and live music on main street, starting at 8:00pm. For more information, visit www.bakersville.com. See a Mountain Turn Pink….Dance with Strangers in the Street…we can help you check those two items off of your bucket list this year!