Long Journey Home 2026: "Portraits of Home"

Mountain City will come alive over Labor Day Weekend with Long Journey Home, Johnson County's Heritage Arts and Music Celebration. This three-day festival celebrates the music, stories, traditions, and people that make Johnson County home. Now in its 12th year, Long Journey Home returns September 4–6, 2026. This year's theme is "Portraits of Home." The festival invites visitors and residents to experience the people and laces that have shaped the cultural heritage of this small Appalachian community — from front-porch music and family traditions to the musicians, storytellers, and artisans who carry these traditions forward. Long Journey Home honors Johnson County's remarkable musical heritage and the traditional mountain music that helped shape American music. The festival also celebrates the living culture of Appalachia and the traditions that continue to be passed from one generation to the next. This year's Long Journey Home events include: Buskin' on Main Street - Friday, Sept. 4 at 6 p.m., featuring local and regional acoustic musicians performing up and down Main Street. You'll find good food, good friends, and good music filling downtown Mountain City. Portraits of Home Community Art Show - An exhibition at Johnson County Center for the Arts celebrating the many ways people experience and remember home. Musical Heritage Tour - Saturday, Sept. 5, featuring stories, music, and historic places connected to Johnson County's musical heritage with a performance by the Junior Appalachian Musicians and a concert on the front porch of the Tom Ashley Homeplace featuring Kenny Price and Jerry Moses performing the clawhammer banjo music of Clarence "Tom" Ashley, along with Jack Proffitt & Backroads Bluegrass, who carry the bluegrass tradition forward. Portraits of Home, Storytelling & Music at Heritage Hall Theatre - Saturday evening at 7 p.m., bringing together stories and traditional music in an intimate celebration of Appalachian heritage. Sunday Singin' - Sunday, Sept. 6, featuring traditional mountain gospel music. The weekend begins Friday evening at 6 p.m. with Buskin' on Main, when downtown Mountain City becomes a gathering place for musicians and music lovers. Local and regional acoustic musicians will perform up and down Main Street. Visitors can enjoy the music, explore downtown shops and galleries, food trucks and restaurants, and experience the hospitality of Johnson County. On Saturday, Sept. 5, the Musical Heritage Tour will take visitors through stories and places that help tell the history of Johnson County's musical traditions. The day begins with Chuck Walsh, author of The Isolate about hermit Nick Grindstaff at 11:30 a.m., followed at 1 p.m. by the Heritage Oak History Timeline project and Junior Appalachian Musicians at Johnson County Center for the Arts. At 3:30 p.m., the tour continues to the Tom Ashley Homeplace, where Kenny Price and Jerry Moses will perform the legendary clawhammer banjo tunes of Clarence "Tom" Ashley. Jack Proffitt and Backroads Bluegrass will provide a taste of traditional mountain bluegrass. Saturday evening at 7 p.m., Heritage Hall will host "Portraits of Home," an evening of storytelling and music celebrating the people and memories that make Johnson County home. Visitors will encounter stories of bean picking, tobacco farming, front-porch gatherings, family traditions, and the generations of musicians who have kept these traditions alive. The weekend concludes Sunday with a traditional Sunday Singin', featuring the authentic mountain gospel music that has long been an important part of Appalachian community life. The "Portraits of Home" Community Art Show will add another dimension to the weekend, inviting artists to interpret what home means to them. The exhibition will be on display at Johnson County Center for the Arts Gallery on Main. "It's about as real as it gets. If you were wondering whether authentic Appalachia still exists, look no further." Information and schedules will be available at Johnson County Center for the Arts, Johnson County Welcome Center, and participating local businesses. For a complete schedule and additional information, visit www.longjourneyhome.net. Long Journey Home and the Musical Heritage Mural Mile are made possible in part through support from the Tennessee Arts Commission, the Johnson County Community Foundation, and the generosity of community members and sponsors. For more information, contact Cristy Dunn at 423-957-6346 or cristy@jocoartcenter.org.