The 55th Home Craft Days kicks off with the annual Opening Night Concert featuring Red Camel Collective, The New Ballard's Branch Bogtrotters, and Tommy Bledsoe, Rich Kirby, Todd Meade, and Tyler Hughes!

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Red Camel Collective is a bluegrass band comprised of multi-talented instrumentalists and singers, Heather Berry Mabe, Tony Mabe, Curt Love, and Johnathan Dillon. You may recognize those names, as these pickers have been members of the Junior Sisk Band for several years. The band’s sound is both eclectic and deeply rooted, ranging from traditional bluegrass and classic country, to fresh modern sounds and original songs.

The New Ballard's Branch Bogtrotters have been playing old time mountain music in the Galax area since 1986. Dennis Hall is the founder of the band and continues to serve as band leader. The band was named for the small stream in Galax where Hall grew up and still resides, as well as in honor of Uncle Eck Dunford, a member of the original Bogtrotters band from the 1920s. The current group includes Hall on guitar, Eddie Bond on fiddle and vocals, Bonnie Bond on bass and vocals, Josh Ellis on banjo and vocals, and Caroline Noel Beverley on mandolin and vocals.

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Tommy Bledsoe, Rich Kirby, Todd Meade, and Tyler Hughes will open Friday night’s concert. Tommy Bledsoe and Rich Kirby have extensive roots in Southwest Virginia’s old time music. The two have been instrumental in organizing music for Home Craft Days for over 40 years. Combined, the four represent over fifty years’ experience with the region’s music and its tradition bearers like Janette Carter, Uncle Charlie Osborne, and Ralph Stanley. 

The 2026 Home Craft Days celebration will be held October 16-18 on the campus of Mountain Empire Community College. Saturday and Sunday will feature performances every hour on two stages. The Crafts Festival will begin on Saturday, October 17 from 10-6 and Sunday, October 18 from 10-5. Enjoy the food, fun, and friendship of Southwest Virginia and come home to the Home Craft Days festival. Find more information and the schedule of events at mecc.edu/home-craft-days/

We're proud to be a co-sponsor of the festival and, alongside our partners at Mountain Empire Community

College, participate in the local arts traditions of our region.

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Pro-Art partners with a variety of venues, for accessibility inquiries or general questions, call (276) 376-4520 or email contact@proartva.org. For weather related updates, patrons are encouraged to check proartva.org for real-time information.

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Pro-Art is supported in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, which receives support from the Virginia General Assembly. Pro-Art is additionally supported in part by the C. Bascom Slemp Foundation, The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, Smith Vicars Family Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.