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[cheesehead57]

I wish they would bring back the fall Music Festival too! It seemed there were more crafters also.

[okiebluegrass]

Knowing the history of the area (SW MO, SE KS, NW AR, NE OK) they had there share of outlaws in the area. Many of the folks that moved into indian territory (OK) after the land run were from Missouri, but that does seem a little off. If Frontier CIty in Oklahoma City wanted to be more theme than amusement park, it should concentrate more on the Cowboy, but not SDC. SDC should be more about Hillbillies than Cowboys.

[MCLFLN]

I am almost betting they paid for some kind of study that ultimately showed people wanted more of the old west style. I am thinking this probably happened sometime after the Victorian transformation they did that didn't go over too well. Remember, for a long time it was "100" years in the past...so 1989 was 1889, etc....

[okiebluegrass]

Oh I know that. In a way the hillbillies became the cowboys of 20 to 30 years later. I just find the decade of the 1880's to be fascinating. So much happened in that stretch of 10 years.

[History Buff]

My guess is they wanted to take the easy/cheap way out.  Cowboys are more widely recognized in history than hillbillies, and for some reason hillbillies have become politically incorrect.  For the record, the humor of the stereotype does more to make the hillbilly endearing than it does to tear him down.

It doesn't take much research to understand that hillbillies were some of the hardest working people around.  Try clearing a spot of the Ozarks of timber and rock to make a garden spot or pasture area for livestock!

[Old Guy]

I love the smell of Cosmacoat in the morning. I knew spring was finally here wnen that new layer went down at Silver Dollar City. but back to the subject of this thread, my favorite hidey hole in days of yore was the roof of the glass blowers shop. Back in the 70's when I was playing on the old Valley theater stage which is now the magic shop in front of Thunderation, there was a back stairway between the glass shop and the restrooms next door. I would head up the stairs and sit on the rooftop with a large mug of soda and a good book so between shows I could read and watch all the people walk up and down the street below. My favorite publicly accessible spot was the old rest area across from the depot which was removed when half dollar holler was installed. It was a lovely place to just sit and listen to the birds.

[Swoosh]

I wish they would bring back the fall Music Festival too! It seemed there were more crafters also.

Yeah I noticed that it is now more about Harvest (crafts and such) but then they added festivals basically centered around music to off set that -- Bluegrass & BBQ, Gospel Picnic, Country Music Weekend.  I imagine it is easier to differentiate the music styles and book larger acts that way. 

[Old Guy]

the original Mountain folks music festival was started in the mid 70's and took place in June in order to attract more people earlier in the season. It consisted of about 200 amateur and semi professional musicians in 20 or so locations around the park like the chair porch in Midtown, the seating area behind Jack and Mary's on Hill Street, the spring tree by the old float trip, and other locations such as these. I was privileged to have this as my first Silver Dollar City job in the 1978 festival. My location was across from the jail in Shad's Old Forge.additionally there were many wondering musicians such as Dave Hunt with his harmonica, ray rickets with his musical song, and washtub Jerry with his washtub bass. At the end of the day all 200 musicians would come up to Main Street for a giant jam session followed by a square dance on the, well, Square. It was an incredible way to end the day. That a festival was discontinued because it brought little revenue for the city.this would definitely be my favorite place in time.