Sourwood Festival | Black Mountain, NC
The Sourwood Festival is held the 2nd weekend of August every year in Black Mountain, NC. Admission is free and the festival runs from 9-8 Sat, and 9-5 Sun in the downtown area of Black Mountain.
Since 1977 the Sourwood Festival has filled downtown Black Mountain with entertainment, music, dancing, arts & crafts, great food, and more. Browse among the 200 vendors and discover lots of local and unique arts and crafts as well as delicious food! Sample the BBQ, funnel cakes, homemade ice cream, local jelly, corn on the cob, sausages, and of course, the HONEY.
You can look forward to shopping for handmade jewelry, local artwork, homemade jams and jellies, honeybee products, and more.
Over 30,000 people from all over the country flock to our little town to take in the festivities each summer. The Sourwood Festival is held the 2nd weekend of August every year in Black Mountain, NC
You can even chat with the beekeepers and bring home a jar of gourmet honey (while it last, it has been known to sell out before the end of the festival).
So, What is Sourwood Honey?
Appalachian sourwood honey is one of the most prized kinds of honey in the world. It has twice won top honors for “Best Honey” at Apimondia – a biennial convention for the worldwide honey industry.
Despite its name, it isn’t sour at all, in fact, it’s sweet-tasting, has a creamy, full texture, and is slow to crystallize. Sourwood honey has a flavor palate that includes a floral-caramel flavor, buttery smooth, with a warm spice finish.
How Does it Taste?
Chef Paul Smith says: “… sourwood honey may be the best honey I have ever tasted. When I tasted the first spoon It brought me back to the first time, I gently pulled the stem and touched my tongue to the nectar bead of the honeysuckle flower on my grandfather’s honey suckle vine.”
Where Does Sourwood Honey Come From?
Sourwood trees grow wild in remote areas with rough terrain within the United States, predominantly within the Appalachia area which goes from the south of New York to northeast Mississippi. The Sourwood tree is found most abundant within the mountains of North Georgia and Western North Carolina and blooms in late June and through July.
sourwood tree
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