MUSIC LOVERS TO GATHER AT FORT KASKASKIA IN SEPT.

ELLIS GROVE, Ill. -- Music lovers of all ages are invited to attend the Traditional Music Festival at the Fort Kaskaskia State Historical Site near Ellis Grove. The festival is scheduled for Sept. 21-22.

The event, which is free, will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sept. 21, and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sept. 22. Food and soft drinks will be available, and visitors are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. Camping is available at the newly-renovated Fort Kaskaskia campgrounds.

The Traditional Music Festival will feature national "open fiddle" champion George Portz and the Friends of Bluegrass Band; traditional Irish dancing and music by the St. Louis Irish Arts Dancers under the direction of Helen Gannon; the "Over the Hill" bluegrass band of St. Louis; and Cliff Patterson, four-time Illinois State Harmonica Champion.

Other scheduled performers are Louisiana grand champion fiddler John Johnson and the Bayeux Band; autoharp and traditional folk songs by Idabelle Brandt of Rose Bud, Mo.; the Dixie Pride Cloggers of St. Louis; gospel and country vocalist Barbara Clarke of St. Louis; country vocalist Zane Prosser of Bethalto; and St. Louis band legend Bud Crouch.

On Sept. 22, an Old-Time Fiddlin' Exhibition will be held featuring the area's finest musicians who are over 50 years of age. A craft show with demonstrations by volunteers from the nearby Pierre Menard Home State Historical Site will be held both days.

The Traditional Music Festival is sponsored by the Illinois Historical Preservation Agency. Fort Kaskaskia is open seven days a week free of charge. It is the site of an early 1700s French fort along the Mississippi River. It is on Fort Kaskaskia Road, six miles north of Chester, Ill., off Route 3.