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Stonewall Jackson Jubilee

The Stonewall Jackson Heritage Arts & Crafts Jubilee, a celebration of the heritage of Appalachia, features craft shows, old-time music, and historic reenactments. The annual four-day festival is held on Labor Day weekend at Jackson’s Mill, near Weston. Started in 1974 as a gathering of craftspeople and musicians, the event has become a showcase of traditional products, entertainment, and exhibits.

With heritage crafts and music the focus of the event, more than 150 craftsmen exhibit, sell, and demonstrate their wares, and more than 100 musicians provide entertainment at the Jubilee. In addition to stage performances, musicians and singers gather throughout each day and evening for impromptu performances on the festival grounds. Many craftsmen and musicians, along with their families, stay on the grounds, returning year after year to create a summer reunion atmosphere.

Festival events include a fine arts exhibition, photo show, quilt show, needle arts show, pie-baking contest, and glass blowing and woodchopping demonstrations. The food features traditional Appalachian favorites of cornbread and beans, roasted corn on the cob, and blackberry cobbler, as well as pork and chicken barbecue.

The Jubilee is held on the 4-H state campgrounds at Jackson’s Mill. The historic youth facility, which dates to 1921, occupies the farm where Stonewall Jackson lived as a boy. A Civil War reenactment and pioneer encampment provide Jubilee visitors with a glimpse of regional life in the 18th and 19th centuries. Guests may tour the 200-year-old McWhorter cabin and the old Jackson family mill, as well as Blaker’s Mill, which was moved to the site in 1985 and has been restored to working order.