2012 marks the 64th Virginia Highlands Festival and will be held from July 28 to August 12. The festival was started in 1948 by Robert Porterfield, founder of the Barter Theatre, as a simple one-week festival to showcase Appalachian arts and crafts. The festival has now grown into a 16 day event offering a variety of venues. Every year hundreds of volunteers work to create exciting new events for our festival for you to enjoy.
The 2012 theme, "Carved from Our Past." Our 2012 signature art is a wood carving by this year's Signature Artist, John Dickens and will be unveiled soon.
Please enjoy our beautiful mountains, forests, and streams while here and all the activities planned for you throughout Southwest Virginia. There is something everyone, old and young alike. An endless variety of activities and performances are planned for this year, July 28-August 12, in Abingdon, VA.