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The 2017 Summer Soulstice Music Festival Comes to Celebrate Charity, Culture and Community, June 17

By Katie Benfield 

It may seem like June 17 is just another day in the summertime, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. June 17 not only has the earliest sunrise of any day, but it can also be considered as part of the summer solstice!

So, how are you going to spend it?

The Blue Ridge Mountain Club has the perfect idea for you.

On Saturday, June 17, from 3-9 p.m., the Blue Ridge Mountain Club will once more be bringing the Summer Soulstice Music Festival to the High Country at The Pavilion at the Blue Ridge Mountain Club.

“It’s a daylong music festival that’s going to have lots of food, craft beers, musicians,” Erica Lackey, Director of Hospitality for the Blue Ridge Mountain Club, said, “and tons of family-friendly things to do that everyone can participate in.”

The Blue Ridge Mountain Club was founded in 2008 and covers a vast expanse of more than 6,200 acres. While it does provide a picturesque view of mountaintop living, its overall mission is to continually cultivate and nurture the spirit of the High Country community by creating meaningful places that bring about authentic family experiences that can, and will, develop not only into hallmarks of heritage but into generational traditions.

With local musicians of all kinds, including performances by the Red Dirt Revelators and the Shelby Rae Moore Band, locally made food and craft beer, this outdoor music festival will officially start your summer off right!

“There will be a food truck called Taco Bout It and J&J’s Shaved Ice,” Lackey said. “Some local breweries, such as AMB, Lost Province and Blowing Rock Ale House, will be providing craft beers of all kinds.”

There will also be games on the lawn, including a climbing wall, bounce house and a kid’s corner. Along with this, there will be a bonfire at Watson Gap Pavilion, an Open House tour of the new Craig Condominiums and an opportunity to shoot at the Chetola Sporting Reserve at the Blue Ridge Mountain Club.

“The open houses run from 3-5 p.m., and you can take a tour of the condominiums and the other new amenities under construction,” Lackey said, “which would be our restaurant and clubhouse.”

The music festival is free and open to the public, but it also serves as a fundraiser to support the Hospitality House, so donations are encouraged but not required.

The Hospitality House is located in Boone, and it is an NC-based nonprofit that is dedicated to ending the cycle of crisis, poverty and homelessness by continuously working towards providing housing, prevention and nutrition for those throughout the High Country that need it.

“The Hospitality House serves the surrounding seven counties, and as a builder of communities here,” Lackey said, “we believe that it is important to provide for those who do not have the ability to be in their own homes right now.”

Along with all of the other events, the Hospitality House will be hosting a Tricky Tray Raffle during the Soulstice Music Festival. According to Lackey, the way this works is that anyone can buy a sheet of raffle tickets. You can tear off as many as you want and put as many tickets into the bucket for a particular item. The more tickets you place in a bucket, the higher your chances are of being drawn as the recipient of said item.

“It’ll be really cool, and some of the raffle items include things that have been donated from Monkee’s and Mountain Threads,” Lackey said. “Mast General Store is also donating gift baskets for the raffle.”

For a good cause, with food, games and live music, the Summer Soulstice Music Festival is one that will enhance your weekend with memories of friends, family and community that all came together to have a great time on one of the most memorable days of the summer.

Below is the schedule of musical performances:

2 Crow Moon – 3 p.m.

Tony Bailey – 4 p.m.

Shelby Rae Moore Band – 5:30 p.m.

Red Dirt Revelators – 7 p.m.

 

For more information, visit Summer Soulstice Music Festival website.