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Greasy Creek, TN
Held at Camp McCroy, at Greasy Creek, TN, near the Ocoee River, the annual Ramp Tramp Festival has been held for 46 years, and counting. It takes place the fourth weekend of April, beginning on Thursday, when the ramp is in season, ripe for picking.
Ramp is a fragrant, sweet variety of the onion family, and is said to grow best wild, and is cultivated with difficulty, and almost exclusively grows above 5,000 feet elevation. Participants in the Ramp Tramp go into the mountains to gather the ramp, then serve it up with other foods at the festival. The festival features mountain music and crafts. Musicians play for dancers on each day of the festival and jam in the campground.
Put on your hiking boots and hike up into the mountains to help start the festival on Thursday by participating in the annual Ramp Dig. This is an all-day event. Meet at the Polk County Courthouse at 8am. Lunch will be provided. Reserve your digging spot by calling the Polk County Agricultural Extension Service at 423-338-4503.
After digging the ramp, volunteers are needed on Friday to clean the ramps in preparation for the festival meal. From 10am-3pm volunteers enjoy fun and fellowship while the ramp is cleaned and cornbread is prepared. This takes place at the Polk County 4-H Camp in the Greasy Creek community. At 7pm you can enjoy bluegrass music while you consume a bowl of white beans, cornbread, 'streaked meat' and raw ramp.
On Saturday, spend the day enjoying bluegrass music and old time fellowship while enjoying a meal of fried ramp in eggs, fried potatoes, streaked meat, white beans, and corn bread. The festival gets underway at 10am with a Flag Raising Ceremony by the Polk County Veterans, then the lunch, and a craft and music fair with crafts for sale, bluegrass, country, and gospel Music.
Directions: The Polk County 4-H Camp is located 2 and one half miles off Hwy 64 on Hwy 30 between Ocoee and Ducktown, TN. To get there: head west on Hwy 30 from Hwy 64 toward Camp McCroy.
There is no admission fee to attend the festival.
There is a small charge for the ramp lunch.
Suitable for medium to large groups. Call ahead for arrangements.
The hike is not suitable for persons who use a wheelchair.
The performances are indoors.
Concessions of tasty, and unique food available.
Try the white beans, fried ramp, streaked meat, and fresh cornbread.
Wonderful flower-based jams may be available for sale...Redbud, Honeysuckle, Rose, and Dandelion jam, among others.
For more information, please contact:
Polk County-Copper Basin Chamber of Commerce
423-496-9000 OR 423 338-4508
www.polkagextension.com/ramppage.html
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