After months of preparation and hard work, the Covered Bridge Celebration is just hours away.

The festival will be held from June 10-13 and offers a full schedule of music, entertainment and vendors.

“We are excited about it,” Chamber of Commerce Director Tonya Stevens said. “It was a lot of hard work to get to this point. We are sure it will be a great festival.”

The festival will begin on Wednesday at 6 p.m. when the first-ever non-profit nights are held. The non-profit event will continue on Thursday night as well. Twenty local non-profit agencies will be set up at the festival to share information about what they offer along with offering items for sale to fundraise for their organizations. The change came about as a way to benefit both the vendors and the local community.

“We know there are many nonprofits in the community that do so many good things,” Stevens said. “By having the focus on them for Wednesday and Thursday night, we can give them exposure and raise awareness for what they do.”

Stevens said the change came after talking to the arts and crafts vendors, especially those who had to travel for longer distances. She said those vendors said the cost to travel and participate in the first two days was more than the money they made during the festival.

For entertainment, Wednesday night is Gospel Night and entertainment will feature gospel bluegrass and contemporary Christian music.

Entertainment will begin at 5:30 p.m. with Reel Steel. St. Paul United Methodist will take the stage at 6:15 p.m. Gospel Grass will play at 7:15 p.m. The headliner for the night will be Trey Heffinger, formerly of “Echoing Angels” and will play at 8:30 p.m.

“The night will include traditional gospel music, bluegrass gospel and contemporary Christian,” Stevens said. “It will be a good mix and we encourage all of our local churches to come out and be a part of it.”

Thursday night is Bluegrass Night with headliners Jeff Little and Wayne Henderson who will play at 9 p.m. Entertainment begins at 6 p.m. with Lonesome Rails followed by John Curtis Goad at 7 p.m. The Fiddlin’ Carson Peters Band will play at 8 p.m.

Friday entertainment is Country Night starting with the Trailblazer Cloggers at 5:30 p.m. Bakersfield will play at 6:20 p.m. and Daisi Rain will perform at 7:40 p.m. Headliner Brad Puckett will take the stage at 9 p.m.

Saturday is Rock Night and will feature headliner Justin Teseniar, who will perform covers of both current and classic rock music. Teseniar will play starting at 9 p.m. Other entertainment for the day will start with Jeff Sharpe & Friends at 3:30 p.m. The Bullseye Band will play at 5 p.m. followed by Acoustifried at 6:10 p.m. The Watts Dance Studio dancers will show off their moves at 7:10 p.m. and Blue Carpet Corner will play at 7:40 p.m.

The arts and crafts vendors, Kid’s Island vendors and food vendor will arrive on Friday and stay through the end of the festival.

Around 30 arts and crafts vendors have signed up to be a part of the Covered Bridge Celebration. Vendors will offer products ranging from handmade cloth items, crochet and knit items, jewelry, decorative pieces, soaps, woodcarved items and others.

The vendors will be set up on Edward’s Island this year, which is different from in previous years.

The change was made because the Covered Bridge Park will be the focus point for entertainment. Marketplace resale vendors will be set up on Elk Avenue from the Monument to the bridge, and Kid’s Island will be set up on E St. near the food court and the public parking lot.

Several events will be held on Saturday. The weekly Carter County Car Club Cruise-In will continue as normal, starting at 5 p.m. in downtown Elizabethton.

τ  The annual 5k run/3k walk will begin at 8 a.m., and registration will start at 6:30 a.m. at City Hall.

τ  The Kid’s Catfish Tournament will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at the Workforce Development Complex. Registration will begin at 8 a.m.

τ  The Community Yard Sale will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on E Street. In the case of rain, the yard sale will be held 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Elizabethton Boys and Girls Club.

τ  A corn hole tournament will start at 10 a.m. in the Security Federal parking lot.

τ  The Little Mr. & Miss Hillbilly Contest will be at 11 a.m. in the Covered Bridge Park.

For more information, call the Chamber of Commerce at 547-3850. Applications are also available online at www.elizabethtonchamber.com