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Informal jamming sessions break out randomly throughout the festival day - Photo by Brian Prose

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[date of release]
Article by: Kayla Rankin

Contact Information:
Let us know if you’d like to attend the event or organize a pre-event interview.

Arc of Appalachia (nonprofit nature preserve system)

Main Office: 937-365-1935, arcpreserveinfo@gmail.com

Kim Baker - 937-779-7631, kim.arcofappalachia@gmail.com

Cassidy Drummond  - 937-794-3360, cassidy.arcofappalachia@gmail.com

Celebrate Appalachian Folk Art & Traditional Music at the John Roger Simon Sorghum & Music Festival

West Portsmouth, Ohio – The John Roger Simon Sorghum & Music Festival is returning this year for its 40th run on September 28 & 29, 2024 as a free event for the public. This year there will be more musicians and demonstrating Appalachian craftspeople than ever before.

The Appalachian celebration takes place on Simon’s historic well-preserved 5th-generation French homestead on the banks of Pond Creek in Scioto County, framed by the farm’s 500-plus acres of forested Appalachian hills. The event features the making of sorghum syrup, heritage agrarian craft demonstrations, country food, and musicians playing traditional Appalachian music.

The heart of the event is the making of sorghum syrup, an Appalachian tradition since the 19th century.  Festival-goers will see the entire process, from cutting of the cane in the fields of Simon Farm  to pouring off the finished syrup. John Roger Simon, now 86, shared, “Sorghum-making is a sensory experience. The smell of sweet sorghum steam rolling off the evaporator pan transports many of our older visitors right back to their childhoods. So much of our Appalachian culture is fading. I want this festival to keep the best of our traditions going forward.”

“I don’t know of any other festival so authentic and uncommercial,” said Nancy Stranahan, Director of the Arc of Appalachia. “The event is especially intriguing to children, who are given a rare opportunity to actively put their hands on vanishing agrarian skills.”  Youths can shell corn, press apples, stir apple butter, ride a horse-drawn hay wagon, and even make their own corn husk dolls.” Demonstrations for all ages include plowing with draft horses, wool spinning, blacksmithing, chair caning, wheat weaving, and gunsmithing.

Music energizes the entire weekend. This year, the Simon Sorghum Festival will not only highlight informal jamming sessions of many artists but is enhanced with a scheduled lineup of expert musicians. Of special acclaim will be musicians  Eli Bedel and Sam Hibbard who will be not only playing authentic rarely heard mountain music tunes, but will be sharing the origin and history of the songs they will be playing, and teaching listeners of the richness of Appalachia’s musician heritage.

Schedule events include:

• Musical Appearance by Joanne Springer & Tommi Robin – Saturday & Sunday at 11 am

• Roping Demonstration by Doug Smith – Saturday at 12pm & 2:30 pm

• Musical Appearance by Eli Bedel & Sam Hibbard – Saturday & Sunday at 1 pm - 2:30 pm

• Dancing by Fancy Free Cloggers – Saturday at 3 pm

• Wagon Rides - All Day Saturday

A variety of traditional country lunches and sorghum desserts will be available for purchase throughout the event. Sorghum syrup and freshly made apple butter, prepared on-site, will also be sold as long as supplies last.

The Festival is always held the last full weekend in September. Parking and admission are FREE. The full weekend schedule can be found on the festival’s website, www.sorghumfestival.org. 

Address:  John R. Simon Farm, 8721 Pond Creek-Carey's Run Road, West Portsmouth, Ohio 45663 

Farm Hours:  Saturday, September 28, and Sunday, September 29, 2024, from 10 am. to 4 pm.

For more information: 

Visit the Arc’s website at www.arcofappalachia.org

Visit the Sorghum pages at: www.sorghumfestival.org
Watch the Sorghum Festival Video
Sorghum Festival Press Kit

About the Arc of Appalachia:  Founded in 1995, the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System is a non-profit organization dedicated to land preservation. Their work includes acquiring and stewarding wildlands in the Ohio region; creating sanctuaries where people can connect with the natural world; teaching about our forest heritage to inspire a global conservation ethic; and honoring our indigenous legacies. The Arc protects and manages more than 8,000 acres of nature preserves in 24 preserve regions in Appalachian Ohio.