The 30th annual Autumn Jubilee will be held Oct. 3 and 4 at Dan Nicholas Park on Bringle Ferry Road. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Typically, more than 45,000 attend the festival during its two-day run. Admission is free.
Spread out over the 450-acre park will be more than 150 crafters from throughout the Southeast with their handmade wares. Crafts will include woodcraft, framed prints, ceramics, folk art, fabric crafts, quilts, leathercraft, bird houses, homemade soaps, quilts, baby items and much more.
Heritage Village Crafts will provide hands-on demonstrations of things such as soap making, pottery, basket weaving, blacksmithing, slate carving and stained glass creation.
The T.M. Stanback Outdoor Theater will host continuous stage shows from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10:30 a.m. to 6 pm on Sunday. Music will include bluegrass, beach, gospel, rock and roll, contemporary Christian and much more.
Saturday’s entertainment incudes: Southern Style Cloggers at 10:30 a.m.; Divided By Four at 11 a.m.; Salisbury-Rowan Silver Arts at noon; 12:30p.m.; Natty Boh at 12:30 p.m.; Crescent Cloggers at 2 p.m.; and Too Much Sylvia at 3:30 p.m.
Sunday’s lineup includes: Mike and Gaynell Lambert at noon; Melvis at 1 p.m.; comic ventriloquist Steve Brogan at 2 p.m.; Steppin’ Out Dance Company at 3 p.m.; and The Alabama Blues Brothers at 4 p.m.
A smorgasbord of food available includes chicken and dumplings, barbecue chicken plates, pork chop sandwiches, pit cooked barbecue, turkey legs, greek food, hamburgers, hot dogs, home fries, kettle corn, fried apple pies and much more, all of which can be topped off with homemade ice cream.
On Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. the log-sawing competition will once again ignite old rivalries and is sure to make some new ones.
Children will have fun expressing their artistic sides in the pumpkin area, where more than 1,800 pumpkins will be available. The children’s area will offer many games to play and Radio Disney will be on hand to entertain and engage children from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. both days.
Children and adults can enjoy the festival and park by riding three miniature trains, visiting the Hurley Train Station, riding the carousel, taking a paddleboat ride or playing some miniature golf and gem mining for either gems or sharks’ teeth. Buckets of gems will be for sale and specialists will be on hand to identify the gems found in them.
A small fee provides entrance to the Wildlife Adventure Center, which houses numerous animals. The Reptile Center is free to the public. The kids will also enjoy the new T.M. Stanback Petting Barn for a small fee.
The Carolina Puppet Theater’s head puppeteers will headline the children’s stage this year as Poly and Ester, the Gabardine Sisters, lead zany, fun musical numbers that are interactive and lively. The kids can become stars as they are invited up to perform. The music, skits and puppetry are family oriented and meant to be enjoyed by adults as well as children.
New this year is “The IntrACTive Theater of Jeff.” Jeff does roving artistry, which includes mime, juggling, mask works and variety arts. Also back this year is the “Knightly Oder of the Fiat Lux,” a fight-a-knight competition, demonstrations and a medieval market.
Free tractor and wagon shuttles will be available from the parking area, as well as van rides for the disabled.
Sponsors include Cheerwine, Carolina Medical Center-NorthEast, Time Warner Cable, Dest Family Dentistry of Salisbury, Radio Disney, Bojangles’, Bath Fitters and Dixie Homecrafters.
No pets, bikes, rollerblades, skates or skateboards allowed.