Hillbilly Jam 2024
07/26–07/27/2024 · Maggie Valley, North Carolina
Hillbilly Jam is the biggest event of the year for us, and 2024 somehow topped last year. From the moment we rolled in, everything felt dialed in — staff, organization, live stage lineup, vendor flow, and the car show. We didn’t catch a single “glitch” the whole time. It stayed family-friendly, busy, and genuinely fun from start to finish.
We hit the fairgrounds late on Day 1, so we went straight into catching up with friends and grabbing as many photos as we could before the evening ran away from us. That first night wrapped with an after-party hang that turned into one of those “this is why we come here” memories — good stories, good laughs, and more flavors passed around than we could keep count of.
The vendor area stayed packed all weekend. It wasn’t just shirts and souvenirs — there was real copper work, real gear, and plenty of booths where you could stop and talk shop instead of getting rushed along. We spent a lot of our time bouncing between makers we already knew and meeting new ones we’d only seen online before.
We also made the rounds to see several familiar faces from the distilling side, including Master Distiller Alfredo Peña and a handful of folks we’ve been hoping to run into again. The best part is always the conversations — swapping notes, hearing what people are working on, and putting more real-world context behind the names we see all year.
Day 2 kept that momentum going. Will’s wife Shana (who a lot of folks know as “Miss Kara Loveheart”) posed for some shots with the vintage cars and trucks. Between the vendor rows, meet-ups, and the constant “oh damn, there you are!” run-ins, it felt like the whole weekend flew by.
The live stage stayed active and brought a steady energy across the grounds. Even when we weren’t parked watching a set, you could hear the music carrying across the fairgrounds while people moved between booths, food trucks, and conversations.
And then there’s the car show. Part of what makes Hillbilly Jam feel like more than a single-theme festival is how much else there is to look at. The car area had everything from clean restorations to loud hot rods, rat rods, lifted trucks, and themed builds — the kind of variety where you can’t really “do it quick.”
By the time we headed out, it felt like we’d made tighter friendships and picked up plenty of new ones. We also left with a couple swap-meet wins — a copper tea kettle and a 7.5 gallon pancake keg — which felt like the perfect “end of weekend” haul to throw in the car and laugh about on the way home.
Also in attendance
We also got to cross paths with a long list of familiar names and new ones — including Bam Bam, Uncle Drunkel, Mark Morgan, Marcus Chapman, Moonshiner Jerry Benson, Moonshiner Crazy Chuck, Moonshiner Josh Owens, Terps & Shine, Moonshine Militia, Ozark Still Works, and several copper builders and vendors we always look forward to seeing at this event.
👕 Worn at This Event
“Make Alcohol Grains Again” Tee
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“I Recycle Kegs” Tee
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Event took place July 26–27, 2024 in Maggie Valley, North Carolina. Original Facebook coverage for this trip was first posted on July 30, 2024. Extra photos and community comments are available on Facebook: View the original post.