The first Habitat for Humanity Spring Bloom and Build Festival will be held Saturday, April 18, from 2 until 7 p.m. at the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad Depot in Dillsboro.
Fifty-two students from the Tourism Planning and Development class at Western Carolina University are producing the festival.
Admission is free, but there will be a charge of 25 cents for some of the children’s activities.
A variety of food and drinks will be available – student groups will be cooking hamburgers and hot dogs, Mad Batter will have its food truck there and other drinks and snacks will be for sale.
A silent auction will run throughout the event as well, featuring items such as gift baskets, dinner certificates to local restaurants, getaway stays at local inns and a new gas grill donated by the local Lowe’s store.
Habitat for Humanity will have demonstration and information booths, and students are creating a Habitat Re-Store “Pop-Up” Store for the event, which will feature a variety of items from the county’s Habitat Re-Store.
Children’s activities include decorating a flower pot and planting seeds to take home, face-painting, a craft table, a game booth and a cupcake walk.
Jackson County Farmers Market vendors will be on hand to sell produce, plants and more.
Entertainment will be provided by Travers Brothership from Asheville. The band describes their music as alternative, alternative soul and funk/rock ’n’ roll and will play from 4 to 6 p.m.
The festival is a community education and fundraising event to support the efforts of Habitat for Humanity in Macon and Jackson counties. It also supports WCU’s ongoing outreach efforts to support Dillsboro businesses. Carroll Brown teaches the class responsible for planning the festival and has been instrumental in working with the community to provide students with real-world experience. Mary Borse is assisting with the class as a festival coordinator.
The idea for the festival came when Habitat for Humanity groups from both counties approached WCU for help in raising awareness for the programs.
In addition to building new houses, Habitat does extensive outreach work in renovating and improving existing houses. One goal of the festival is to showcase opportunities for volunteer work with Habitat. Students also wanted to work with the Dillsboro Merchants Association to find ways to use the festival to support Dillsboro businesses.
To plan the festival, students chose a committee that would provide them with experience in an area they felt would benefit their future career interests.
The five committees are:
• Vendors – responsible for coordinating food vendors and nonprofit groups that will be cooking and serving food at the event;
• Entertainment and Activities – responsible for the overall planning of entertainment and activities at the event, including music, dance lessons, children’s activities, education and demonstration booths, the Habitat “Pop-Up” Store and the silent auction;
• Fundraising – responsible for soliciting sponsors for the event and donations for the silent auction;
• Marketing and Promotion – created the logo for the event, designed promotional material and planned press releases and a social media marketing campaign;
• Logistics – responsible for securing all permits for the event, coordinating parking and securing all physical needs, including tents, tables, stage and more, and coordinating volunteers at the event.
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