By Stacey Menser staceym@timesleader.net The first annual Back Stage Square Dance kicked off the Pennington Festival Thursday night. Performing were (from left) Freddy Russell, Joe Tarentino, Frank Hudson, Eddie Pennington, Ray White and Dean Hughes. The festival continues today beginning at 10 a.m. on the Butler Lawn in downtown Princeton.

The 11th annual Pen­nington Festival opened on a high note Thursday night, filled the Butler campus with great sounds Friday and promises a full day of music and festivities today.

The Back Stage Square Dance on Thursday afternoon attracted attention and dancers despite the heat. “We feel pretty good about this for the first year. We had fun and we think as the word gets out this is going to be a really good addition to the festival for us,” said Stacey Menser.

The square dance is a natural accompaniment for a folk festival and was added after co-chair Nancy Taylor recruited Pennington and some friends to play for a birthday party. The “audition” was a success and the “Back Stage” event was added to this year’s festival.

Another event has been added to the schedule today. “This is a great opportunity for us,” Menser said. “The Rain Dogs, the popular Kansas City blues band featured at Friday night’s show, will offer a workshop Saturday, June 7, at 1:30 p.m. in the Butler Annex Building on Washington Street.”

The Rain Dogs will offer information and demonstrations on their instruments and address topics such as overall instrumentation and talk about the history of their style of music, the blues. They will also answer questions.

This workshop is free and open to the public, Menser said. “All who are interested are encouraged to attend this special event.”

Guitar champion, recording artist Eddie Pennington is emcee for the folk festival.

The festival opens Saturday with a talent contest. Sign-up begins at 9 a.m. with the first round of competition at 10 a.m. A $10 entry fee is charged with all proceeds going to the Caldwell County Band Boost­ers. Competition categories include: vocal solo (pop, country, traditional, gospel); vocal group (pop, country, traditional, gospel); bluegrass and traditional instruments: guitar, fiddle, miscellaneous (dobro, stand-up bass, banjo, accordion, brass, winds, harmonica, etc.). Finals will be at 3 p.m. with the winners in each category vying for cash prizes.

The performance schedule Saturday includes:

4 p.m., Bluegrass favorites, The Boys from Kentucky

5 p.m., Patriotic Program

5:15 p.m., Gospel Music, The Community Choir

6 p.m., up & coming Nashville duo, Jason Coleman & Meagan Taylor

7 p.m., The Moron Brothers

8 p.m., Academy® and Grammy® Award nominee Thom Bresh

9 p.m., the all-star jam led by Alonzo Pennington.

The Pennington Festival, now in its 11th year, is sponsored in part by the Kentucky Arts Council, Southern Arts Federation/National Endowment for the Arts and numerous local sponsors.

The event is held on the Butler lawn. Food concessions will be available. There is no admission.

For more information, persons can call Stacey Menser at (270) 625-5886.