BULLS GAP -- Thousands of people flocked to downtown Bulls Gap Monday for bluegrass gospel music, clogging, food, crafts and relaxing fun to cap off the last day of a three-day Archie Campbell Days celebration named after the town's most famous native son.

Bulls Gap Mayor Robin Horner said this morning that his best "educated guess" was about 7,000 people thronged the streets of the tiny town on Monday, which was Labor Day, to attend the 20th anniversary celebration of Archie Campbell Days.

"We were very pleased with the whole day. It worked us to death," Horner said.

A car show with about 110 entries at Bulls Gap School started the festivities on Saturday afternoon, followed by street dancing that night, and gospel music Sunday afternoon.

Horner said he thinks the popular street dancing event alone attracted 500-600 people -- "the largest crowd I ever remember."

Archie Campbell's son, Phil, who is a comic and musician, again hosted the event on Monday from the main stage. Phil and his brother Steve, who also attended, were both writers for "Hee Haw," the popular television program that catapulted Archie Campbell's career.

By 11:30 a.m. on Monday, temperatures were already in the high 80's. Many people walked and surveyed the vendors' booths, fanning themselves in an effort to seek relief under the hot sun.

Joe Harris, accompanied by his wife, said they were Indiana natives now residing in Bulls Gap.

"It's 110 percent better than it has been in previous years. There's so many more people here," Joe Harris said of this year's celebration.

Dwight Wilson and his wife, Dorothy, stood behind the bleachers that faced the main stage, fanning themselves vigorously. "It's a little hot," said Mr. Wilson.

Donald Choate, 17, of Morristown, said he was with his family at the celebration "to listen to music."

On Monday, several hundred people sat in bleachers set up in front of the main stage and crowded the area's sides to hear one of two sets by the six-member Primitive Quartet, who sing and played the mandolin, banjo, fiddle, guitars and acoustic bass in traditional mountain style.

"They bring in a lot of people," Mayor Horner commented.

The "Primitives," as fans call them, have been traveling and singing gospel music for 35 years.

According to festival promotional literature, the gospel bluegrass singers travel approximately 50,000 miles a year to do about 150 dates, including Monday's in Bulls Gap.

Another crowd-pleaser on Monday was the Bulls Gap Band, who played country music in the style of the popular band Alabama.

Music was played on the main stage located near the railroad tracks all day on Monday, from about 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. At midday, a Norfolk Southern train barreling through downtown briefly drownin out musicians on stage when the train's horn sounded.

"Wild Bill Hip-Hop" was the redneck rapping character in a song recorded by Phil Campbell titled "Archie C. and the Bulls Gap Rap," and played often throughout the day.

The song, which calls for audience participation, was played to the delight of many between music sets at the main stage audience. At one point, festival-goers formed a conga line during the song.

It's "a fun song" written by a friend of Phil Campbell, Mayor Horner said.
Nine clogging troupes played on a small stage two blocks away. When Dancers Unlimited took the stage, a large dog eager to join them on-stage had to be shooed off the stage floor two or three times.

Jodi Dickerson, who said she is originally from Bulls Gap and lives in Morristown, said she was at the celebration to hear a friend of her husband sing.

"So far, I like it pretty good," Dickerson said. "I like the music, (especially) country and gospel."

Mayor Horner credited the large turnout to a decision made last year to start using professional sound equipment and to book well-known, popular bands, aided by extensive pre-celebration media coverage.

"Archie Campbell Days last year came back with a vengeance," Horner said.

Horner honored three-term former mayor Ima Justis, who died in March, and Irene Henry, Archie Campbell's sister, who died in December 2007.

Henry was instrumental in setting up the Archie Campbell Homeplace, a replica of the entertainer's childhood home on South Main Street, according to Horner. The home was open to visitors during the three-day weekend.

Two shrubs will be planted in town in memory of Justis and Henry, Horner said.

Archie Campbell put Bulls Gap, population 720, on the map with a career that spanned 50 years, including a stint on CBS's popular "Hee Haw," which he joined in 1969.

Campbell, though primarily known as a comedian, was also a painter and reportedly a big fan of gospel music. He died in 1987.

Said Mayor Horner, "We had a big day. We're going to work hard to make it even better next year."