Ramp Festival
Festivals
celebrating a community point of pride were not commonplace in 1954
when the Cosby Ruritan Club of Cocke County decided to establish a
celebration centered around the ramp, a wild plant which was a
common spring staple in this Appalachian Region of southern
Tennessee. The festival originated in the desire of the Cosby locals
who "deplored the fact that the Cocke County acreage of the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park had been largely neglected and
unpublicized since the park's founding," and sought a "gimmick" with
which to focus attention on the area and generate tourism.
The result was a two-day weekend festival
honoring the potent mountain ramp, "the sweetest tasting and vilest
smelling vegetable in Mother Nature's bounty." An edible member of
the onion family, the ramp is alternately called the wild leek,
taking its name from a similar plant, the rampion, which also has a
fleshy tap-root. Believing the ramp to possess the revitalizing
power of a spring tonic, the mountain folks looked forward to the
return of the ramp after a winter of eating mostly dried foods. The
ramp's flavor, though sweet with a hint of garlic, is accompanied by
a potent odor so objectionable school children with "ramp odor" were
known to have been excused from school for a few days.
The first Festival attracted a crowd of between
5,000 and 6,000, including the Tennessee governor. Although the
festival differs from year to year, there have been common threads:
bountiful food, music, dancing, politicians, and a young woman who
is crowned "Maid of Ramps." In 1955, the Festival was attended by
ex-President Harry Truman. In 1959, at the sixth annual Ramp
Festival, attendance approached a never-again-topped 30,000 due to
the featured guest, "Tennessee Ernie Ford," a popular television
celebrity, and native of nearby Bristol. Other festivals have
featured entertainment notables such as Eddie Arnold, Roy Acuff,
Bill Monroe, songstress Dorothy Collins of "Hit Parade" fame, Minnie
Pearl, Brenda Lee, and Dinah Shore. Current festivals showcase
musicians performing the area's heritage music: country and
bluegrass. But two factors remain unchanged: the celebration of the
region and its culture, and the return of spring and the adulation
of the ramp.
Project materials include a detailed report:
"The Festival of the Ramps, 1954 - 1999," a 1954 proclamation of
"Ramp-Eating Day in Tennessee" by Tennessee Governor Clement,
extensive newspaper coverage from various years of the annual event,
photographs, two videotapes: "Ramp Festival 2000" and "Dedication of
the Great Smokey Mountain National Park", a drama entitled On
Cosby with accompanying photographs, programs, and newspaper
coverage.
