On Saturday, September 21st, graduate students, faculty, and staff in the WKU Folk Studies Program and Kentucky Folklife Program partnered to produce the Chattin’ on the Porch stage at the Horse Cave Heritage Festival in Horse Cave, Kentucky. A yearly tradition, this event serves as a key opportunity for Folk Studies students to gain fieldwork and festival production skills. Under the guidance of Kentucky Folklife Program staff and Folk Studies faculty, students take the lead in presenting the event: students interview local tradition-bearers from Horse Cave and Hart County live on stage, document the stage with professional video and audio recording equipment, and learn how to set-up the stage’s sound system (from the mixer to the microphones). It is a wonderful excuse to get out and connect with the communities that surround Bowling Green and Western Kentucky University.
This year’s stage discussions centered on Southcentral Kentucky basket making, a pickin’ on the porch weekly jam session held at the local book store, and the celebration of Horse Cave’s bicentennial. The stage also featured a demonstration of Cindy Scott’s famous zucchini bread and its associations within their family memory. Aside from the stage, basket makers Leona Waddell and Charlene Long were present, demonstrating basketmaking, and answering questions from festival goers.
Kentucky Folklife Program 