Being in one of the great forests of the United States (and by extension, one of the great forests of the world) means that the element of wood is a major factor in our culture. For hundreds of years, we built everything out of wood – houses, food storage, beds, tools, furniture, transport via horse-drawn wagons, train tracks, boats, fishing rods – wood IS life in many literal ways in the Smokies and eventually it became art as well.
We celebrate that art with the Smoky Mountain Woodcarving Festival in Townsend on the weekend of October 7th and the 8th at the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center on the main road of Townsend. This event will showcase many incredible works of art by professional woodcarvers local and abroad as well as feature some competition against the woodcarvers for cash prizes in several different categories. As anyone who ever tried to do so, making works of art by carving wood is not easy to do. Those who are arriving and showcasing their craft are artists of a supreme quality and definitely deserve to have your support amongst the festival.
See more on the Smoky Mountain Woodcarving Festival at http://www.woodcarvers.com/.