Annual Events

     Johnson County has a number of annual events. Some of the most popular are Trade Days, Old Butler Days, Mountain Heritage Days, and the Cranberry Festival.
      The Trade Days Festival is a three day celebration to remember the lives of our ancestors who first settled in the area known as “The Trade Gap”. The Trade Gap was an area in which three wilderness trails and an old buffalo came together. The old buffalo trail ran between Snake and Rich Mountains and was the easiest route for travelers going west through this area in the 1700’s. The location became a popular trading ground for Indians, trappers, and settlers. In 1790 a community grew on the trading grounds. The community, simply known as Trade, had a country store, post office, and a blacksmith shop. Now a festival is held each June to remember this special part of our past. 

     
     Another annual event is Old Butler Days. This celebration is held to remember the town of Old Butler, an incorporated town, which was covered by water when the Tennessee Valley Authority built Watauga Lake.
     In 1947 Johnson County held its first Green Bean Festival  to celebrate the largest money making crop raised in the county. After the green bean crop diminished, the tradition was continued with the Burley Tobacco Festival. The Burley Festival was changed to the Mountain Heritage Festival in 1992 when the R. J. Reynolds Company decided to no longer sponsor the celebration. Mountain Heritage Days is held each August. The two day festival begins with a parade. The highlight of the festival is a rodeo held at Ralph Stout Park. You may also see 4H exhibits, crafts, and enjoy dancing to the music of a live band.
     The Cranberry Festival is held each October to celebrate the Jess Jenkins Bog. The bog once covered an estimated 10,000 acres of Shady Valley. In the 1920’s the valley was drained by many farmers wanting to raise crops and livestock. Preserving the Jess Jenkins Bog was the first project of the Tennessee Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. The bog was purchased from a local farmer, Jess Jenkins, in 1979 and is now owned and managed by East Tennessee State University.

 

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