Submitted by the Main Street Sylva Association
SYLVA, N.C. – This year’s Greening Up the Mountains Festival, scheduled for Saturday, April 25, celebrates its 28th anniversary. Main and Mill Streets in downtown Sylva will be blocked off and police officers will direct traffic around town. The festival hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is organized by the Town of Sylva and the Main Street Sylva Association.
The festival will host over 170 vendors and attendees from throughout western North Carolina. Vendors will be located on Main Street and on both sides of the Bridge Park music stage. Public restrooms are located on Mill Street beside Ward Plumbing, Heating and Air and newly renovated restrooms will be available at Poteet Park. Portable toilets will be located at both ends of Main Street. The Birthstone Center located on Main Street will be offering a family rest area for folks with younger children. Inside restrooms and a private space for nursing moms will be offered. Updated signage will help direct attendees while at the festival.
Information tents will be located on Main Street and at Bridge Park. WRGC, The River, will be broadcasting live from Bridge Park throughout the day. WWCU, Western Carolina’s student radio station, will also be broadcasting throughout the day from the parking lot beside the Lazy Hiker. Water stations, installed by the Tuckasegee Water and Sewer Authority, will once again be available for all attendees and dogs on Main Street and at Bridge Park. Attendees are encouraged to bring water bottles as there will be no single use plastics/bottles of water at the festival. All dogs brought to the festival must be on a leash.
In addition to the 170 plus vendors at the festival most of the businesses in downtown Sylva will be open. Most restaurants will offer online ordering and carry out services.
The day will begin with a 5K Race kicking off at 9 a.m. Registration is available online
at www.greeningupthemountains.com. The awards ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. The 5k starts and ends at 86 Mark Watson Park in Sylva, N.C. All proceeds benefit the Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department.
Live music will be performed throughout the day by local musicians at the Bridge Park music stage. See the music schedule for Bridge Park listed below:
10 a.m. – Junior Appalachian Musicians
11:30 a.m. – Bird in Hand
1 p.m. – Fuzzy Peppers
2:30 p.m. – PMA
Blacksmithing and glass blowing demonstrations by vendors from the Jackson County Green Energy Park will take place in the Southern Bliss/Lazy Hiker parking lot across from First Baptist Church. Children’s activities will also be scattered along Main Street and at Fusion’s Spa.
Parking places in town are limited but the Jackson County Transit will offer shuttle service from the Jackson County Justice Center parking lot between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. There is no charge for parking but a ride with the shuttle service is $1 per person and the ride back is free. This is perhaps the best option for folks with mobility issues since the shuttle will provide drop-off on Main Street by Fusions Spa.
Other parking is available at Mark Watson and the Jackson County Library, plus other limited spots along the detour. Paid parking is available at Pinnacle Relief on Grindstaff Cove Road, First United Methodist Church, and at St. Mary’s Catholic Church as fundraising events for their organizations. All proceeds will be used for church mission projects. Limited handicapped parking will be available in the lot behind the Sylva Police Department and beside Ward Plumbing, Heating & Air.
The Greening Up the Mountains committee would like to thank all the sponsors and community partners who make this festival a reality each year.
For more information, visit www.greeningupthemountains.com or contact Bernadette Peters at mainstreet@townofsylva.org or (828) 586-2719.
