An abundance of bluegrass entertainment will be served up on Friday, Oct. 6, and Saturday, Oct. 7, during the 11th annual 3 Sisters Music Festival. Held at Ross’ Landing, the free event will feature top names in contemporary and traditional bluegrass.
The music will begin Friday at 6 p.m. with local bluegrass favorites and festival hosts, The Dismembered Tennesseans. The Stray Birds will perform at 6:50 p.m. and the Jeff Austin Band (a mandolinist and singer best known for being a part of the Yonder Mountain String Band) will take the stage at 8:10 p.m. Del McCoury will end the night with a set beginning at 9:30 p.m.
At noon Saturday, The Lone Mountain Band will kick off a full day of bluegrass entertainment. Bluetastic Fangrass will follow at 1 p.m., the Hamilton County Ramblers at 2 p.m., the Berklee College of Music Fiddlers at 3 p.m., the Molly Tuttle Band at 4 p.m., Bryan Sutton at 5:30 p.m. and the Kruger Brothers at 7 p.m. Sam Bush will provide the final set on Saturday beginning at 8:30 p.m.
3 Sisters merchandise and performer merchandise will be available for sale. Food from a variety of food trucks, beer, wine, whiskey and non-alcoholic drink concessions will also be available. The public is invited to bring lawn chairs and blankets. No outside food or beverages will be allowed.
This event is sponsored by Fletcher Bright Realty and the City of Chattanooga and produced by Chattanooga Presents! Information: www.3SistersBluegrass.com, 423 265-0771.
Chattanooga Bach Choir
The Chattanooga Bach Choir will present Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “All-Night Vigil” for unaccompanied mixed choir on Sunday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul, 214 East 8th Street. Admission is $20; students are free. For this concert, the Chattanooga Bach Choir is collaborating with Voci Virili Men’s Consort and Voice of Reason Women’s Ensemble. This performance of “All-Night Vigil” will be sung in the original Russian. Information: www.chattanoogabachchoir.org.
Urban League Equal Opportunity Day
The Urban League of Greater Chattanooga will present its annual Equal Opportunity Day breakfast on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 7:30-9 a.m., at the Chattanooga Convention Center. John Hope Bryant, founder and chief executive officer of Operation HOPE, a nonprofit financial services network, will be the keynote speaker. This year’s event theme is “Urbanomics – The Breakdown of Economic Inequality.”
Bryant has been an advisor to the last three sitting U.S. presidents. At the request of Bryant, President George W. Bush signed the first executive order establishing financial literacy as the policy of the federal government in the nation’s history in 2008. President Obama appointed Bryant to serve on his new U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans in 2014.
To recognize corporate and individual leadership in the region, the Urban League will give out three awards at the event: the Inclusion by Design Award; the Community Impact Award; and the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award.
The Urban League is offering several sponsorship levels or individual tickets for the event. All proceeds from the event will support the organization’s programs. Information: www.ulchatt.net, 423 756-1762, lsanchez@ulchatt.net.
SouthWord Literary Feast
The Southern Lit Alliance will present SouthWord Literary Feast Nov. 3-4, with Friday’s events taking place at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s University Center and Saturday’s events occurring at both Lindsay Street Hall and the Bessie Smith Cultural Center.
The event will consist of readings, discussions and panels with published members of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. SouthWords’ keynote address will be delivered by Wendell Berry, an American novelist, poet, environmental activist, cultural critic and farmer. Berry has written many novels, short stories, poems and essays.
Other authors in attendance will include poet T.J. Jarrett, (“Ain’t No Grave”), Jill McCorkle (“The Cheer Leader,” “July 7th”), Lee Smith (“The Last Girls”), Charles Frazier (“Cold Mountain”), Silas House, author of more than 100 published short stories and poems, and bestselling novelist, poet and short story writer Ron Rash.
In addition to the panel discussions and readings, the event will feature book signings, a luncheon on Friday recognizing new inductees into the Fellowship of Southern Writers and a BBQ luncheon Saturday featuring writers John Shelton Reed and Roy Blount Jr.
Formerly known as the Celebration of Southern Literature, SouthWord Literary Feast is hosted by the Southern Lit Alliance, a nonprofit organization located in Chattanooga, the Fellowship of Southern Writers, an honorary society that works to recognize excellence in Southern Literature, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Tickets: www.SouthernLitAlliance.org, 423 267-1218.