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The Kingdom Come Swappin’ Meetin’ is coming for its 60th installment, bringing with it a rich history along with interesting items and activities for all who wish to attend.
According to a press release, the two-day festival will take place on the Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College SKCTC Cumberland campus on Oct. 4-5. The event is held to preserve and promote the heritage and culture of the Appalachian region and features crafts, music, visual arts, storytelling, demonstrations and more.
“We believe in the value of this event to our Appalachian heritage, as well as to our future,” said Alexia Ault with the college’s Appalachian Studies program. “We ask the community to be part of sustaining and reinventing it.”
Marketing and Communications Specialist for Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College Dakota Saylor provided some information on the event.
“This is a rebuilding year,” Saylor said. “We’re trying to reengage and get back in touch with what made this festival so special to begin with which was highlighting Appalachian folk culture.”
According to Saylor, the Swappin’ Meetin’ began as a way for people to trade knives.
“Of course, it’s grown since then,” Saylor said. “We’re wanting to put the image back out there; we’ve done a little bit of a facelift with the branding. We’re trying to give the Swappin’ Meetin’ an identifiable image that people can associate with it.”
The event will feature live music including styles ranging from Appalachian folk music to alternative rock. There will also be plenty of crafts and food vendors.
Saylor mentioned among the available items will be home baked goods, crafts such as keychains, tumblers, earrings, headbands, jewelry, wallets, and more.
Storytelling will also be on display.
“We’re going to have some storytellers coming down,” Saylor said. “They usually have folks come down that are part of the professional storytelling circuits.”
With the event just weeks away, demonstrators are being accepted to showcase skills such as butter churning, dulcimer making, soap making, broom making, sorghum making, basket weaving, pottery, and more.
Anybody looking for more information or wishing to share information about potential artisans, demonstrators, performers or vendors — either for this year or future years — should contact the college at 606-589-3129 or visit www.facebook.com/swappinmeetin.