Haywood County
° Waynesville - July 6, 20, Aug. 3, 17. 6:30 p.m. on Main Street next to courthouse.
° Canton - Every Friday night at the recreation park. 648.7925. 7 p.m.
Macon County
° Picking on the Square in downtown Franklin every Saturday night. 8 p.m. 524.3161.
Swain County
° Darnell Farms off River Road. Every Friday and Saturday nights.

This summer, spend a Friday night in downtown Waynesville. Bring your dancing shoes and a lawn chair to Main Street right in front of the courthouse. Feast on some old-time mountain music, kick up your heels and do a little Southern Appalachian clogging as the sun sets.

The annual summer tradition known as the Waynesville street dances begins Friday evening, July 6, and will continue every other Friday night leading up to the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival on Labor Day weekend at Lake Junaluska’s Stuart Auditorium. The dances go from 6:30 to 9 p.m. July 6 and 20 and then Aug. 3 and 17.

As a celebration of mountain culture and a free night of wholesome family fun, the Waynesville summer street dances have been going strong since Joe Sam Queen started them up as part of the Town of Waynesville’s Centennial celebration 31 years ago. His grandfather, Sam Queen, was a legendary folk dancer who once took a team to perform in front of the king and queen of England when they were visiting President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House. Sam Queen popularized the Southern Appalachian square dance teams and two generations later, the duty of keeping up the family legacy is still very much alive in Joe Sam Queen.

The street dances have a simple premise - invite a local square dance team and a string band, put on a free show and let folks join in with the square dancers.

“It’s really easy to do,” Joe Sam Queen explained. “You dance to the music and with your partner in the circle.”

Since real Southern Appalachian clogging is individualistic, beginners need only to learn a handful of moves and then find their own rhythm in the music.

Queen and musician Doug Trantham will coordinate as callers as a string band sets the music. Each night there will be a different local string band and square dance team, all of whom will end up performing at the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival, so the street dances give people a taste of what to expect at the festival.

The opening night of the Waynesville street dances, July 6, features The Haywood Ramblers (twins Trevor and Travis Stuart) as the guest string band and the Southern Appalachian Cloggers as the square dance team.

Although the dances are held outdoors, the weather most always cooperates. Over the last decade, Queen said there have only been a couple of nights when they got rained out.

“We get four to five hundred people a night,” Queen said. “It’s a real family event.”

The dances are sponsored by the Downtown Waynesville Association and the Friends of the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival. Refreshments including hot dogs, chips and drinks will be sold at the dances.

For more information, contact Joe Sam Queen at 828.452.1688.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News