MURFREESBORO, Tenn. Uncle Dave Macon Days: A Roots Rendezvous, September 11, 12, 13 will introduce the Matilda Macon Artisan Village on Saturday, September 12, 2026, at Hop Springs in Murfreesboro. The village will invite festival guests to experience the home arts, handwork, foodways, and rural traditions that sustained family and community life in Rutherford County.
Named for Mary Matilda “Tildy” Richardson Macon, wife of legendary Grand Ole Opry star Uncle Dave Macon, the Artisan Village will highlight the quieter but essential side of Tennessee heritage: the home, the hearth, the garden, the loom, the quilt frame, and the handmade objects that connected generations.
Matilda Macon was known in local history as a renowned quilter and tremendous cook whose work helped anchor the Macon family’s farm and home life in the Kittrell community. Through the Artisan Village, Uncle Dave Macon Days will recognize the women, families, and rural households whose labor made music, travel, farming, faith, and community possible.
Festival visitors will be able to meet tradition bearers, observe skilled hands at work, ask questions, and learn about the practical artistry woven into everyday rural life. Demonstrations are expected to include quilting, sewing, weaving, basketry, woodcraft, blacksmithing, soap making, food preservation, gardening, heritage cooking, and related domestic arts.
The village will also feature demonstrator information and community participation from groups such as Greenhouse Ministries, Quilters, and The Family Community Education, whose involvement will help connect today’s families with practical skills, local service, and the long tradition of learning by doing.
Hands-on children’s activities will give younger festival goers a chance to participate directly in heritage learning through simple, family-friendly projects inspired by rural home life, crafts, and traditional domestic arts. The activities are designed to make history approachable, interactive, and memorable for children while encouraging families to explore together.
Set within a festival dedicated to old-time music, storytelling, and community, the Matilda Macon Artisan Village will broaden the meaning of heritage by showing how songs, crafts, foodways, faith, and family traditions grew from the same soil. The village will stand as a living tribute to Matilda Macon and to countless women and families whose creativity, resilience, and work shaped Rutherford County life.
Media Contact: Gloria Christy, President, Uncle Dave Macon Days 2026
615.668.0475 | gsc714@gmail.com
Website: www.rootsrendezvous.com
