June 9, 1934
THE
STATE
Page Three
The Rhododendron Festival
THOUSANDS of visitors ore expected in Asheville next week to
"articipote in the elaborate four-day program which has been ar¬
ranged in connection with the festival. Many other attractions await
the visitors in the mountain district.
By JOHN D. TOPPING
★
THE summer season is heralded
this year in Asheville, as in pre¬
vious seasons, by the annual
Rhododendron Festival, to he held there
June 12, 13. 14 and 15. A brilliant
and colorful event, the festival marks
the height of that period when the
rhododendrons, the laurels and the
azaleas have reached the crescendo of
their yearly pageant of blossoms.
A Beautiful Scene
In June, entire mountain slopes are
cloaked in the purple, pink and white
of the rhododendrons, the pinks, reds
and flame colors of the azaleas and the
rose colored mantle of the laurels.
Highways and trails as well ns railway
lines are bordered with the wild gardens
of the shrubs. Areas, hundreds of acres
in extent, color the slopes and the crests
of the major mountain ranges. Every¬
where, there is beauty, a universal and
exotic charm in the brilliant colors
displayed.
In this setting, the Rhododendron
Festival presents a brilliance and a
kaleidoscopic review of colors anil pa¬
geantry in keeping with the natural
pageant of the flowers. Beginning with
the first annual Military Ball of the
Brigade of Guards on June 12, the
program of the fete this year will be a
feast of Iteauty.
An Elaborate Program
The Military Ball, a new event in
the festival program, will be built
around the pomp and majesty of the
Rhododendron Court. An event also
of majesty and color, older in history,
is the Rhododendron Ball, June 14. at
which the King and Queen of the fete
will receive the ambassadors of the
Southern States, the ten beautiful girls
from ten states, each costumed to rep¬
resent the state flower of her native
state. Among these will be Miss Ade¬
laide Lucinda Fortune of Greensboro,
X. sponsor for North Carolina this
year.
The Sponsors’ Ball, another colorful
event honoring the state sponsors, on
June 15, and the Jester’s Ball on the
same date, are colorful events of the
festival from a social standpoint. Four
parades, the huge Rhodcndrnn Parade
of floral floats, June 13, the Baby Pa¬
rade of tiny floats, June 14, the Mutt-
dog Parade of Doggy floats and the
Jester’s Parade by torchlight on June
15, are spectacular reviews attracting
huge crowds.
The Rhododendron Pageant
The Rhododendron Pageant present¬
ing the mystic and mythical portion of
the fete, is the event to lie held the
night of June 13. In it over a thou¬
sand people from seven towns and cities
of Western North Carolina, in colorful
costumes will portray brilliant episodes
and scenes, spectacular features being
devil-dances, sacrifices to the fire-god,
prehistoric monsters and other thrilling
and bizarre portrayals.
Ten Southern states, including Ala¬
bama, Mississippi, Louisiana. Georgia.
Florida. Tennessee, Kentucky, Vir¬
ginia, South Carolina and North Caro¬
lina. will send their loveliest girls as
state sponsors to the festival court of
Bring along your fishing tackle. The
fishing is unusually good in the moun¬
tain streams this year.
Of interest to all visitors in the moun¬
tains is the Cherokee Indion reservation.
The Indians have made remarkable
progress during the last few years.
★
the King and Queen. Miss Myra Pey¬
ton Lynch and Grove Seely of Ashe¬
ville will reign over the festival this
year as Queen and King of the event.
Five fine golf courses sporting the
finest fairways and greens to be found
in the South, as well as many other
courses in the highlands nearby, are a
lure to the golfer in Western North
Carolina this season. A series of tour¬
naments reaching a climax of interest
in the annual invitation tournaments at
the Asheville and Biltmore Forest Coun¬
try Clubs will claim the interest of fol¬
lowers of this sport.
Other Attractions
Many miles of highland trails are
an enticement to the hiker and horse¬
man. Fine tennis courts in Asheville
arc scenes for many matches during
the summer months. Many miles of
tumbling trout streams, the haunt of
brook and rainbow t r«»ut, are an entice¬
ment to the angler. A thousand miles of
fine paved highways take the motorist
to points of interest.
The Great Smoky Mountains Na¬
tional Park, presenting a panorama of
majestic peaks, virgin forests and stu¬
pendously deep valleys and gorges is a
focal point of interest for the visitor
in Western North Carolina. New high¬
ways have been carved through this
great virgin wilderness taking the mo¬
torist to regions where the print of
the Indian moccasin was formerly the
only sign of human passage.
Great tracts of virgin spruce, balsam,
( Continued on page twenty )
