City to resurrect popular festival this Saturday

LANDRUM — After taking an extended break, one of Landrum’s most fondly remembered festivals will make its return to downtown this weekend.

Landrum’s Hogback Mountain Day Festival will take place from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, with events throughout Rutherford and Trade streets, as well as at the downtown train depot and the First Baptist Church Landrum. The Landrum Area Business Association, the city of Landrum and The Well Church are sponsoring the event, which will feature live music, vendor and food sales, children’s entertainment, and more, capped off with a fireworks show in the evening.

There are also a number of other activities taking place throughout the afternoon, including woodcarving demonstrations at The Collective from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., viewings of the Pullman rail car by Mayor Robert Briggs from 1 to 4 p.m., moonshine stories at the recently opened Shine Town Moonshine from 1 to 2 p.m., and a dance performance by competitive cloggers with the StarMakers Dance Studio at the Foothills Amish Furniture deck at 3 p.m.

This Saturday will mark the first time since the 1990s when Hogback Mountain Day (also known as Hogback Mountain Days, when it spanned multiple dates) was last held in Landrum, said Ellen Henderson, one of the organizers of Saturday’s festival.

The festival was started in the mid-1980s as a fundraiser for the Landrum Library. According to one of the old event organizers, Judge James Ashmore, the festival was later taken over by the Landrum Chamber, which expanded the event into a three-day celebration of the area’s heritage, featuring people doing what they did “in the day,” Henderson said.

When the LABA recently discussed different ways the organization could help promote and draw tourism to the Landrum area, the idea of bringing back Hogback Mountain Day came up, especially as the name is still fondly remembered by many, Henderson said.

“Everyone got excited about the idea,” Henderson said. “We thought it would be a lot of fun. It will take place the weekend before [the World Equestrian Games], as well as during the Music at the Tracks [concert series]. A lot of things came together to make this the right time to bring it back.”

The organization is working with The Well to host the church’s annual Summer Sizzle event — normally held over Labor Day weekend — in conjunction with the resurrected festival. This weekend’s Music at the Tracks concert series will also tie into the festival.

With Saturday marking the first time in years that Hogback Mountain Day returns to Landrum, organizers are unsure what the attendance figures will be like, though interest on social media has been strong, Henderson said. The organizers are hoping to see a couple thousand or more people show up, be they locals or first-time visitors to the community.

“We love Landrum,” Henderson said. “We want people to discover the town if they haven’t done so already. We’re hoping that not only vendors do well during the festival, but all of the downtown shops.”

For more information, people may visit facebook.com/hogbackmountainday.

Hogback Mountain Day schedule

• 8 a.m. to noon — Landrum Farmers Market, at the depot.

• 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. — Mountain Market, where more than 40 artisans and food trucks will line the lower part of North Trade.

• 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — A vintage tractor show, which will take place at the First Baptist Church Landrum parking lot.

• 5 to 8:45 p.m. — Summer Sizzle by The Well, which will offer free food, drinks and children’s rides in the Landrum Farmers Market area.

• 7 to 10 p.m. — Music at the Tracks, with the band Rock and Roll Reunion performing at the depot.

• 9 p.m. — Fireworks display, with viewing available at the depot.