BEREA, Ky. — Berea’s cultural DNA has always included the unamplified kind of music—the kind passed hand-to-hand, voice-to-voice, where the story matters as much as the sound.
That tradition gets a spotlight on Friday, Feb. 13, when the Berea College Folk Roots Ensemble hosts Ballad Night at 7:30 p.m. in the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center. The event is free and open to the public.
🎤 What “Ballad Night” Is
Ballads aren’t background music. They’re narrative songs, often centuries old, built to carry history, humor, warning, love, grief, and community memory in a form that’s easy to remember and share. In Appalachia, ballad singing has long been one of the ways families kept stories alive long before most people had libraries in their homes.
Ballad Night is a chance to hear that tradition performed with care by students who study and practice roots music as a craft, not as a museum piece, but as something still alive.
🪕 Why It Fits Berea So Well
Berea has earned its reputation as a place where traditional arts aren’t just “nice to have,” they’re part of civic life, seen in long-running programs and gatherings on campus and in town. The Loyal Jones Appalachian Center, in particular, exists to engage the public in Appalachian culture and community partnership, so an event like Ballad Night is right in its lane.
📝 KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
What: Folk Roots Ensemble — Ballad Night
When: Friday, Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Loyal Jones Appalachian Center (Berea College campus)
Cost: Free
🎭 Make It a Full Arts Weekend in Berea
If you’re building weekend plans, this date also lands in the middle of Spotlight Playhouse’s Valentine’s weekend run of The Tomb, a murder mystery dinner show (Feb. 13–15)—an easy way to pair campus tradition with downtown theater in one night.