It’s showtime in Smithville as the Jamboree returns to town this Friday and Saturday with thousands expected to flock to the internationally acclaimed festival.
“We’re getting all geared up for the 47th annual Smithville Fiddler’s Jamboree and Crafts Festival coming up Friday, July 6 and Saturday, July 7, starting at 9 a.m. each day,” said Chamber of Commerce director Suzanne Williams.
At the core of the event is bluegrass and old-time Appalachian-style music. “Smithville, Tennessee, downtown, is the place to be,” she said, noting some 200 craft vendors will be in attendance.
Making things a little more comfortable for attendees this year will be a 40-by-60 dining tent sponsored by St. Thomas DeKalb Hospital. The tent will be manned by 27 junior Jamboree volunteers who will be bussing tables. The tables are viewed as a welcome addition so visitors have a more relaxing place to eat.
Williams says one of the most prevalent questions she gets around Jamboree time is where can visitors park?
“Around the square there are several paid parking lots that charge $4 or $5 for parking,” Williams said. “You are welcome to pay there and walk straight in.”
As for free parking, there are usually spots on Cookeville Highway and West Main Street and any of the merging streets leading into town. She noted visitors can park on the side of the road (out of traffic) as long as there are no signs banning parking in that area.
“This is the best free family event around,” Williams noted, adding the jamboree has been named the official jamboree and crafts festival of the state of Tennessee and United States of America.
Competition will kick off at 9 a.m. Friday with the old-time Appalachian Folk Singing contest and run through the old-time fiddle band competition, the last of 16 categories on the first day. The finals of the Friday events usually begin between 5 and 7 p.m. depending on weather and number of contestants.
Saturday will kick off at 9 a.m. and have numerous competitions. The event will conclude with the Junior and Senior Fiddlers’ Fiddle Off for the Berry C. Williams Trophy and Jamboree Grand Championship. Like Friday, the finals of Saturday’s competition usually begin between 5 and 7 p.m.
Contestants may register for events backstage with registration beginning at 8 a.m. Friday. All competitors must register at least 15 minutes before the category begins.
