MerleFest Brings Cultural, Economic Benefits to College and Region
Every spring, hordes of music-lovers from around the country and the world pour into Wilkes County for MerleFest, one of the nation’s most highly acclaimed roots-music based festivals.
For four days in late April, the campus of Wilkes Community College echoes with the strains of banjos, guitars and high, lonesome harmonies as a line-up of established stars and up-and-coming young musicians, performing across genres dubbed “traditional-plus,” take their turns on more than a dozen stages.
“B” Townes is the festival’s co-founder, as well as vice president of development for the college and executive director of the Wilkes Community College Endowment Corp., the nonprofit organization that produces MerleFest.
The festival started in 1988, when Townes was horticulture instructor at the college. Seeking to raise funds for a “garden for the senses” for the visually impaired, he approached legendary blind folk musician and Wilkes County native Doc Watson about doing a benefit concert. Watson agreed to do the show in memory of his late son, renowned finger-picking guitarist Merle Watson. And the rest, as they say, is history.
“It was supposed to be a one-shot deal,” Townes says. “But because one person had a camera on it and somebody else had a recorder on it, we came out with a tape and ended up selling it all over the world. The phones kept ringing with people wanting to know if we’d do it again.”
Twenty-two MerleFests later, the festival has contributed more than $8 million to the college endowment, funding gardens, scholarships and capital improvements. The stunning Eddy Merle Watson Memorial Garden for the Senses symbolizes what MerleFest has done for WCC – and the entire area.
“It’s gone beyond just a garden fundraiser,” Townes says. “It’s a fundraiser for the whole community.”
In fact, more than 50 community groups receive direct donations from the festival in exchange for the massive volunteer effort that helps keep MerleFest running smoothly.
“All of our food vendors are also affiliated with a civic group – everything from high school boosters to churches,” says Christie Hutchens, public information officer for WCC. “For a lot of our community organizations, this is their largest fundraising event of the year. It’s four days of nonstop action.”
And with annual attendance between 70,000 and 80,000 people, the festival is a huge boon to the region’s economy, bringing millions to local business owners each year.
The family-oriented, alcohol-free, eco-friendly festival also presents a perfect opportunity to showcase the region’s assets to visitors from around the globe. At an on-site information booth, The MerleFest Ambassadors – local, elected officials – do just that.
“The MerleFest Ambassadors promote other things that are going on and encourage people to come back and experience the area beyond just these four days,” Hutchens says.
Extensive workshops, outreach into the public schools, and promotion and preservation of the region’s Appalachian heritage further advance WCC’s threefold mission to have a cultural, educational and economic impact through MerleFest.
“MerleFest is a significant economic engine in our community,” Townes says. “And it has spawned a whole awareness of and appreciation for this music.”
