Few things are a clearer herald to summer arriving in the mountains than bluegrass festivals. Sure, there’s Merlefest and other, bigger festivals, but for me, the small ones are the best.

This weekend we went to Hot Springs, North Carolina for the annual Bluff Mountain festival.

With groups playing imprompteau jam sessions behind the single stage and dancing floors made of plywood scatter around the audience area, the festival caters to those who want to listen, those who want to dance, and those who want to play. L and her friends wanted to dance.

They were probably inspired by the Cole Mountain Cloggers, a dance group of kids fourteen and under.

Boys and girls, some shyer than others, but they almost all have one thing in common: everyone in the audience can see from their faces that they enjoy what they’re doing, which is refreshing. To see kids that age embrace and love the “old” and the “traditional” gives everyone hope that this music and these dances will endure.

This year, there were a couple of new additions, including a four-year-old girl who seemed dreadfully impatient to get out and do her solo dance.

Her turn finally came, and did the audience ever love it: continual cheering and whistling.

It’s difficult not to smile in the presence of such obvious joy.