Music is at the heart of the Christmas in July Festival. Recent years have seen a focus on the heritage of the music of the mountains, and this year’s 23rd annual festival features a delight of that tradition.

The festival will take place Saturday, July 4, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the Backstreet in West Jefferson, with a day of music, handmade arts and crafts, food, children’s activities, a Civil War era camp and re-enactments, demonstrations from local Christmas tree growers, farmer’s market and much more.

Festivities kick off on Friday evening, July 3, with music on the main stage, a street dance, and food vendors from 7-10 p.m.

Friday night features country music with the Crossroads Band from 7-8:30 p.m. followed by Blue Country Band from 8:30-10 p.m.

Music lineup on the main stage features the following:

9 a.m.: Southern Accent

10 a.m.-Noon: Colgate Country Showdown

Noon: Ashe County High School Cans and Pans Steel Drum Band

1 p.m.: Amantha Mill Band

2 p.m.: Laura Boosinger & Josh Goforth

3 p.m.: Wayne Henderson & Friends

4 p.m.: Big Country Bluegrass

5 p.m.: Elkville String Band

6 p.m.: Dollar Brothers Band

7 p.m.: Dust to Dust contemporary Christian music.

Amantha Mill is a community oriented folk/bluegrass act based out of Boone who derive their name from the small mill community of Amantha, NC. The original mill that the band is named after washed away many years ago in a flood, but if you're driving through Cove Creek you can still see part of its footing. “We hope you enjoy the musical heritage that the old Bingham roller mill gave us to share.” (www.amanthamill.com)

Southern Accent is a regionally-known and well-loved bluegrass gospel group from Watauga and Avery counties, whose members take traditional and contemporary gospel songs and hymns and add a smooth bluegrass flavor to praise and honor the Lord, Jesus Christ. Their mission is to sing and play their instruments as a ministry to send out the message of the Good News of the Gospel. (www.southernaccent.us)

Wayne Henderson's top-notch finger-picking is a source of great pleasure and pride to his friends, family, and neighbors in Grayson County, VA; his guitar playing has also been enjoyed at Carnegie Hall, in three national tours of "Masters of the Steel-String Guitar", and in seven nations in Asia. In addition to his reputation as a guitarist, Henderson is a luthier of great renown. He produces about 20 instruments a year, mostly guitars; he is almost as well-known for the mandolins he has made. Henderson can often be found performing with many of his musical “Friends,” who have included Helen White, Steve Lewis, and Randy Pasley. (www.waynehenderson.org)

Big Country Bluegrass delivers their own hard-driving style of bluegrass that makes them crowd favorites wherever they perform from festivals and concerts across this country to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. With two decades of experience under their belts, the band offers the very best of traditional bluegrass music. Their sound is reminiscent of hearing Bill Monroe and Lester Flat & Earl Scruggs at their very best. Big Country Bluegrass was formed by husband and wife Tommy and Teresa Sells in the late 1980s and took its name from Tommy's coon-hunting buddy Jimmy Martin's instrumental, Big Country. (www.bigcountrybluegrass.com)

"Traditional Country Roots Music" is what Elkville String Band plays. They have been told that they don't sound like any of the other string bands around and that is exactly what they are striving for. They want to develop their own sound but are interested in keeping the old ballads and songs from the North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia area alive. Some of the songs date back to the early 1800s. Some are not near that old but date back to the 50s and 60s. They do old time, bluegrass, traditional, gospel and even a blues tune now and then. “All these different kinds of music were played in the Blue Ridge and Appalachian regions of our country so we want to play some of all this music and keep it alive for future generations to enjoy.” (www.elkvillestringband.net)

Laura Boosinger's concert performances and recordings have earned for her a well-deserved reputation as one of North Carolina's most talented singers and interpreters of the music of the Southern region. Conventions, festivals, workshops and family concerts each provide a unique opportunity to showcase Laura's talents as she features a variety of traditional stringed instruments, including old-time banjo, guitar, Appalachian dulcimer and fingerstyle Autoharp. (www.lauraboosinger.com) She performs with Josh Goforth.

Josh Goforth has been performing and teaching music for 11 years. He has also inspired people of all ages to love and respect the beauty of traditional, bluegrass and acoustic music. His solo performances are a mix of traditional, bluegrass, swing, original and acoustic music. Josh will play numerous instruments including: guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, bass, piano, and even some surprising rhythm instruments. Josh is also an excellent storyteller and will delight audiences with tales about his ancestors and heritage living in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. (www.joshgoforth.com)

For more information, call the Ashe County Chamber of Commerce at 846-9196, go online to www.christmasinjuly.info, or email cij@christmasinjuly.info.