Cody Shuler & Pine Mountain Railroad on the main stage at the Tennessee Fall Homecoming Main Stage. Photo credit Jack Williams.

Small wonder that authentic Southern mountain music will reign supreme at the Museum of Appalachia’s Tennessee Fall Homecoming, which runs Thursday through Sunday (Oct. 8-11) this week.

But a fair share of new bluegrass will be added to the mix when more than 400 musicians are slated to perform bluegrass, gospel, folk and old-time country music on the museum grounds, located at 2819 Andersonville Highway near Clinton, Tenn.

The Tennessee Fall Homecoming is billed as one of the nation’s largest and most authentic old-time mountain, craft, and music festivals. It has been selected 16 times as one of the Top 20 October Events by the Southeast Tourism Society.

Festivities are held the second full weekend in October, Thursday through Sunday, from 9 a.m. until dark each day, regardless of weather. Ample free parking is available. Event admission rates apply. Tickets are available at the gate.

Music will be featured on five stages scattered around the 60-acre complex, which is one large display of rural Appalachian life in pioneer times.

A sampling of the old-time performers includes Charlie Collins & Friends, Melvin Goins & Windy Mountain and Ramona Jones & Friends. Acts with a newer flavor include Grasstowne, Dailey & Vincent, Cherryholmes and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.

During the Tennessee Fall Homecoming, old-time crafters will entertain and offer their creations for sale. Demonstrator will show and explain how people lived and worked during pioneer times. As always there will be plenty of tasty Southern vittles to enjoy.

Other musical attractions include a daily gospel sing in the museum’s log church and demonstrations of buck dancing and clogging.

Each day of the event, dozens of local cooks serve country food, some of it prepared on woodburning stoves and in iron kettles. And more than 175 artisans —some whose work is rarely seen elsewhere — demonstrate old-time mountain activities, including quilting, basket weaving, splitting cedar rails, spinning and weaving, whittling, caning chairs, making lye soap, and constructing old-time instruments. Thousands of handcrafted items are available for purchase during the event.

The museum has been featured in dozens of other national magazines and has been the subject of articles in virtually every major newspaper in the country. Thousands of people from every state in the union and many foreign countries view this splendid preservation of Southern Appalachian life each year, and the official Tennessee Blue Book has described it as “the most authentic and complete replica of pioneer Appalachian life in the world.”

The American Automobile Association’s Tour Book rates the Museum as a “Gem,” and the Tennessee Fall Homecoming has been named one of October’s Top 20 Events in the Southeast by the Southeast Tourism Society for 13 consecutive years.