Explore Stories of the Blue Ridge Mountains

The Blue Ridge Tales blog is your gateway to the history, culture, and traditions shaping the Blue Ridge Highlands of Virginia. Here, you’ll find a unique blend of past and present that brings the soul of the Blue Ridge Mountains to life. Join me as I uncover the stories that make this region truly special.

Bring the Magic of Live Storytelling to Your Event

You’ve decided to hire a Virginia storyteller for your big event. Congratulations! Storytelling can inject some wonder and whimsy into your guests’ lives.
Floyd Allen And The Hillsville Courthouse Massacre

Floyd Allen And The Hillsville Courthouse Massacre

Reading Time: 3 minutesIt started with a kiss and ended with a courtroom shootout. Five people died, and seven were wounded. A year and two weeks later, Floyd Allen and his son Claude were executed in Virginia’s electric chair for the courthouse murders. The kiss lit the fuse on a pre-existing political powder keg. Floyd’s nephew Wesley Edwards, was at a corn shucking […]

Ramp It Up in Whitetop, VA

Ramp It Up in Whitetop, VA

Reading Time: 3 minutesIn England, ramps are known as ramson; in France, they are ail sauvage. Native Americans in the Great Lakes area called the plants Chicagou, for which the city of Chicago is named. Elsewhere in the world, they are known as wild leeks, wild garlic, and spring onions. In the Blue Ridge Mountains and throughout Appalachia, the plants with the pungent […]

Flatfoot Dancing: Too Much Fun?

Flatfoot Dancing: Too Much Fun?

Reading Time: 2 minutesBluegrass music and flatfoot dancing go together like bread and butter. Go to any event with live bluegrass music, and someone will set up a dancing platform or throw a piece of plywood on the ground and start flatfooting. Flatfooting, also known as clogging, foot-stomping, or buck-dancing, consists of dancing alone or in groups to up-tempo music, using enthusiastic footwork […]

Outhouse On The Run

Outhouse On The Run

Reading Time: 2 minutesPorta-Potty, Johnny-on-the-Spot, Outhouse, Portable toilet. Whatever you call them, they all have one thing in common: they stay put once you set them up. They don’t go anywhere. Unless you are in Independence, VA, on the second Sunday in October, when you will see outhouses running down the main street. The running outhouses are part of the Grand Privy Race […]

King Kudzu

King Kudzu

Reading Time: 2 minutesKing Kudzu is on the move. A Kudzu vine can grow a foot a day, sixty feet a season. Residents of Georgia have been warned to close their windows at night to keep the dastardly weed out of their houses. Left uncontrolled, it will grow over any fixed object, including cars, houses, equipment, and your lazy brother-in-law. The Japanese introduced […]

Destination Storytelling: An Essential Marketing Tool

Destination Storytelling: An Essential Marketing Tool

Reading Time: 9 minutesDestination storytelling is an essential tool for travel and tourism agencies, visitor’s centers, antiques dealers, and Main Street America projects. It enables businesses to connect with their target audience on a deeper level by sharing the unique stories that make each destination special. Here, let’s explore five key steps to mastering destination storytelling: identifying your target audience, crafting an authentic […]

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