One of the many things that drew me to Highlands was the activites going on in the arts and music scene.
Coming from a small town in Alabama, that wasn’t a thing. The only thing to do on the weekends was sit in the Walmart parking lot with friends, or lucky for me, play sports.
So, when I heard about all of the festivals and happenings in Highlands, I was overcome with excitement.
Recently, the word on the street with some people around town is that the Chamber of Commerce is doing too much, we have too many festivals and too many things going on.
As most of us know, Bear Shadow is coming up and even the festival organizers have added extra events to the lineup.
My question is why is this a bad thing? Isn’t it a good thing when people, businesses and events come to a town?
As for Bear Shadow, one of the events, the Hike and Mic, is a guided hike led by experts from Highlands-Cashiers land Trust and Highlands Biological Station. Last year the organization running Bear Shadow donated over $10,000 to Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust.
So, money coming into local non-profits and more things for locals to enjoy. Those are two positives in my book.
Not only do we have festivals in Highlands, but we have a brand new performing arts center being built, the Highlands Playhouse is gearing up for a new season full of exciting shows and the busy season is upon us. Soon, the streets will be busier than normal, warm temperatures will come in and we will hear more people talking about days in the past when it was a quiet little mountain town.
I’m not saying busy is better, I’m saying events and festivals bring the town together. Locals, seasonal residents and visitors all coexisting to have a good time at a festival is what I envision when I think of what Highlands can be.