Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival

Encore: The Grand March And A Year After A Denied Abortion, Inside Appalachia

This week, for nearly a century, the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival has staged a formal dance. Organizers rely on a manual that’s been passed down for generations. Also, abortion is illegal in most cases in Tennessee. So what happens after a birth? A photographer followed one mother for a year. And, new prisons are touted as a way to bring jobs to former coal communities. Not everybody agrees the trade-off is worth it.

Continue Reading Take Me to More News

Red Onion Prison, NIOSH And The Mountain Laurel Festival, Inside Appalachia

This week, officials are scrutinizing a supermax prison in Wise County, Virginia, after inmate complaints and a visit by a state lawmaker. Also, laid-off federal worker warns the Trump administration’s mass firings could make a big difference for coal miners. And, every year, the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival stages a formal dance. Organizers rely on a manual that’s been passed down for generations.

Continue Reading Take Me to More News

Ball Gowns, Curtsies And A Queen: Pineville, Kentucky Hosts Elaborate Dance Tradition With Polish Roots

The Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival happens every Memorial Day weekend on the grounds of a scenic state park. It’s a four-day celebration that culminates with an exquisite tradition: the Grand March, a dance that has been taught to Kentucky college students in Pineville since the first festival in 1931.

Continue Reading Take Me to More News

A Visit To KY Mountain Laurel Festival And Kim Richey Has Our Song Of The Week, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival in Pineville, Kentucky has staged a formal dance for nearly a century that has remained the same for generations. Folkways Reporter Will Warren takes us for a visit.

Continue Reading Take Me to More News

More West Virginia News