The Dandridge Scots-Irish Festival is an old-time Main Street music festival, held on the last Saturday in September in historic downtown Dandridge, Tennessee. September 24, 2011 marked our 5th anniversary.
On the shores of Loch (Lake) Douglas and in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, the Festival honors the Town’s earliest Scots-Irish settlers in 1783. Our Festival is the creation of the Dandridge Community Trust, the non-profit organization that sponsors the Town of Dandridge's participation in the national Main Street program.
Admission is free and all entertainment is provided free of charge, courtesy of generous sponsors and patrons. Dedicated volunteers work year round to create our Festival, which has become known nationally for its high quality entertainment, vendors, and unique small town feel.
Dandridge’s Main Street is closed to vehicles and lined with vendors and Clan tents. All vendors have a Scottish or Irish theme in their food or wares.
Entertainment is non-stop, until a lone piper atop the Dandridge Dike closes the evening Ceilidh (concert) with a moving and stirring rendition of Amazing Grace. We also feature nationally sanctioned individual piping competition and Highland Dance competition.
The Dandridge Scots-Irish Festival has been featured in national publications and on the BBC Northern Ireland's television and radio series "Santer". The Town of Dandridge was recently named one of 2011’s “Dozen Distinctive Destinations” by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
