The 33rd Annual Pork, Peanut and Pine Festival will be held this weekend at Chippokes Plantation State Park in Surry.
The event is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Sunday, with $5 admission per person per day. Children under age 10 are free.
New to the festival is the"Critters of Inspiration" petting zoo.
David Lee Murphy, a country music singer-songwriter, will be this year's featured performer.
Murphy will play at 3:30 p.m. He made his first appearance on the country charts in 1994 with "Just Once," a song from the soundtrack to the film "Eight Seconds".
Murphy is best known for his 1995 hit "Dust on the Bottle" that reached No. 1 in the charts.
During his career Murphy has released four albums with 13 singles on the country charts.
Murphy has also co-written several singles for other artists, including "Living in Fast Forward," which was a No. 1 single for Kenny Chesney in 2006.
The Pork, Peanut and Pine Festival began in 1976 as a project of the Surry County Bicentennial Committee.
A core group of volunteers continues this tradition today honoring the "cash crops" that have been the livelihood of Surry County since the 1600s.
More than 100 artisans and crafters are located throughout the gardens of the Chippokes Plantation mansion.
Everything from baskets to jewelry, needlework, paintings, floral arrangements, candles, pottery, hand-crafted furniture, ornaments, quilts, garden art, bird houses, wind chimes, dolls, and wood carvings can be found at the festival.
Most food booths are local non-profit organizations serving up specialties of char-grilled pork chops, barbecue, ham sandwiches and ham rolls, sausage, pork rinds, cracklings, chitterlings, salted peanuts, peanut pie, peanut candy and traditional festival foods of funnel cakes, kettle corn, apple pies, ice cream andpopsicles, hot dogs, lemonade, iced tea, soft drinks, cotton candy and more.
A parade will be held 12:30 p.m. today. Live music will be featured both days with bluegrass, country, gospel and pop music.
In addition to Murphy, the music lineup will feature The Galileans, Harbor Lights, Courtney Haywood, Unlimited Access, The Gospel Country Messengers, Thunder Creek, the H.M. Johnson Band, and Country Roads Express.
A children's corner will include a rock wall, obstacle course, fast pitch and large slide.
Today also features special presentations by Anita Randolph, a Surry native, who will portray an enslaved African who had to make the difficult decision on whether to support the British government on the eve of the American Revolution, or fight for their new country.
Lord Dunmore, the last British governor of Virginia, proclaimed any enslaved person who fought for the British would be free.
Could the governor be trusted? Find out during presentations on Quarter Lane at 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m. both days. There will also be other stories about the different cultures that have lived on Chippokes Plantation throughout time. All exhibits, tours of the mansion and Farm and Forestry Museum, special programs, and demonstrations are included in the price of admission.