Event/Site: Sonker Festival at the
Edwards-Franklin House in Lowgap
Date: First Saturday in October,
1:00pm—5:00pm.
Type: Daylong festival honoring the Appalachian deep-dish
pie called the “sonker”, with
old-time stringband music and dance.
Location: The Edwards-Franklin
House, 4132 Haystack Rd,, Mount
Airy, NC, is 7 miles west of Mount Airy. Take NC 89 west out of Mount Airy. Turn left onto Beulah Rd. about 1 mile after
passing under I-77. Drive
approximately 1 mile on Beulah
Rd. and turn west onto Haystack Rd. Follow Haystack Rd. for about 3
miles. Immediately after you
cross a bridge, the Edwards-Franklin House will be on the right. Click here for a map.
Cost: Free.
Parking: Free.
Accessible for bus tours.
Special Needs Access:
Wheelchairs would have to be pushed up a grassy hill.
Signage:
At location and en
route.
Sponsor: Surry County Historical Society
Web
Site: www.visitmayberry.com
www.surryarts.org
Contact:
Mt. Airy Chamber of Commerce,
Tourism Dept
PO Box 913
220 N. Main St.
Mount Airy, NC
27030
(336) 786-6116
(800) 948-0949
(336) 789-4636 (call
day of festival
tourism@visitmayberry.com
Linda Stanfield
Mt. Airy Historical
Society
Mount Airy, NC 27030
(336) 789-7034
lindastanfield@triad.rr.com
Description of Event: This
homespun event combines good Appalachian food and music with a bucolic,
historic setting. Try a sonker”, a deep dish fruit or sweet-potato
pie native to Appalachia, and enjoy
some fine old-time stringband music and
dance. Enjoy lemonade and coffee
available for sale. Tour the
1799 house, home of early American Congressman Meshack
Franklin.
History of Site/Event: The Surry County Historical Society began this event in 1980. Purchased and restored by the
Surry County Historical Society in 1973, the historically intact
Edwards-Franklin House is open to visitors the second Saturday and
Sunday April through September from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Description
of Site/Facility: This historic house retains the
original decorative painting on doors, mantels and wainscoting. Information panels in the rooms tell
about families who lived in the house.
Significance of Site/Event to the Community: Proceeds benefit the preservation of the
house.
Reference Source: Cama Merritt; Linda Stanfield; Blue Ridge Music Trails by Fred C. Fussell
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