2019 Events/Activities

At the Festival this year are several events/activities that you’ll want to be sure to see.

Descriptions are below, along with links to more detailed information pages.

Quilting with Cindy McLean

Cindy McLean, a member of the Southern Belle Grandmothers Club of West Plains, has been demonstrating traditional quilting techniques since 2006 at the Festival. Attendees are encouraged to try their hand at stitching, and then sign their “square.” Quilts from previous years are on display, so those who have participated in years past may find their signatures on them.

Fabric arts are a huge part of our history and heritage. McLean brings many examples of quilts, aprons, and other home-produced items that were such a huge part of the culture in years past. A visit to this exhibit is time well-spent.

Join her on the Mezzanine at the Civic Center from 12-7 p.m. both days at the Festival.

MISSOURI BICENTENNIAL PAINT FOR A CAUSE COMES TO THE OLD-TIME MUSIC FESTIVAL

The State of Missouri turns 200 years old on August 10, 2021. Missouri Bicentennial Paint For A Cause was created to celebrate this event, and has been endorsed by Missouri 2021. The finished 12’x30’ mural will be hung in Jefferson City for visitors to see for generations to come.

Juried Best of Missouri Hands artists Aaron Horrell and Barb Bailey are spearheading the project. They have designed fifteen 4’x6’ sections of the mural and are taking the smaller panels throughout Missouri to be painted by as many individuals as possible. Each panel has 1,728 sections to paint.

The fiddle section of the mural will be available to paint at this year’s Old-Time Music, Ozark Heritage Festival, and this activity is co-sponsored by West Plains Council on the Arts, Missouri State University-West Plains, and the City of West Plains. There is no charge to participate, but donations will be accepted.

Anyone, any age, and any ability is welcome to paint a small triangle section of the fiddle panel. Bailey and Horrell are keeping a journal for each town visited and will record the name, age, occupation, and town of everyone who participates. The journal will eventually be given to the town to keep in their archives. All will also be copied to a big journal to be kept in Jefferson City.

Horrell says “We’re going to take them around to different communities around the state. That way, people from all over Missouri can say that they’re a part of a piece of art that’s up in the Capitol.”

Information about the full project is available at the Missouri 2021 website missouri2021.org/ or the Facebook page www.facebook.com/MissouriBicentennialPaintForACause/

For more information about this Paint for a Cause activity in West Plains, contact Paula Speraneo at 417-293-2325 or the West Plains Council on the Arts at info@westplainsarts.org

Quilt Show and Bed Turnings – Southern Belle Grandmothers Club

“500 Fiddle Tunes – Old-Time Archive”

Book Signing at Festival

The Old-Time Music, Ozark Heritage Festival organizers will host a book signing by Fiddlin’ Banjo Billy Mathews for his new archive of old-time fiddle tunes. The author will be available on Saturday, June 1, at 5:00 p.m. in the Civic Center Lobby for a meet-and-greet, and will have available his new CD “Jambusters I.”

The 25^th annual Festival will be held May 31 and June 1, 2019, in and around the West Plains Civic Center. The two-day annual event in downtown West Plains, Mo., celebrates Ozarks music and culture. Admission to all festival events is free. Festival hours are noon-9 p.m. both Friday and Saturday.

Mathews says, ”The idea is to present a reasonable rendition of the tune; not too fast, pretty much straight up with very little ornamentation, which will be very helpful for many people who, like me, learn by ear. The second part of the 500 tunes project is the completion of a Book of Musical Notation that accompanies all 500 Tunes. The Book of Notation includes other essential information about each tune.” Information at http://banjobilly.net/500_tunes_project.htm

“The tunes Billy has collected are little-known and are played in a disappearing style. I hope that these transcriptions will make these tunes available to many musicians in order to ensure that the old-time style that Billy plays will be carried on in a generation where newer styles are overshadowing their roots. In addition to serving as background for these tunes, the sources listed for each tune will also give insight into Billy’s personal history as one of the last fiddlers to build a life from scratch in the Ozark Mountains ” Emily Elam

“Ideal” Pickin’ Spot this year at the Old-Time Music, Ozark Heritage Festival

This year Festival organizers are preparing an “ideal” spot for pickin’. All Saints Episcopal Church will once again open their side yard on East Main to festival attendees, and this grassy, shady area will make a great spot for our guests to sit and jam. We’ll have strawbales and chairs placed there and hope our visiting musicians will take advantage of this cool spot to get together and make music. It’s just far enough from the outside stage to eliminate conflicting music. Hope to see it used all throughout the two days!

Kennel Club Demonstrations

The South Central Missouri Kennel Club will bring a demonstration of their various training disciplines to the Old Time Music, Ozark Heritage Festival at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 31. The group will be demonstrating obedience training with a drill team exercise and the dogs working on agility equipment. The demonstration will be held in the Mule Jump area at East Main and Curry Streets.

The club was formed to become an affiliate member of AKC and bring AKC conformation dog shows to the West Plains area. The group has evolved to include people interested in many different activities with their dogs. Some of the activities include obedience, rally, agility, tracking, scent work, and barn hunt. They promote responsible dog ownership and encourage people to become active with their dogs. These activities strengthen the bond between the dog and owner and challenge the dog to learn new things. Dogs do not have to be AKC registered or purebred to participate in club activities. Mixed breed dogs are welcome.

The group holds a fun match for conformation, obedience, and rally each spring to get experience in the show ring. In the fall they hold a fun day where people can try a variety of activities with their dog.