This article is reprinted from The Tennessee Arts Commission. The Arts Commission has been a tremendous supporter of the National Rolley Hole Marbles Championship and Festival, providing funding and other support. The Arts Commission also provided funding for this website and for planning the Rolley Hole Museum to be housed in the Historic Clay County Courthouse. Find out more about how to support the work of The Tennessee Arts Commission here.
The annual festival is designed to simultaneously inspire and encourage fierce competition, appeal to those who grew up with the tradition, and educate fascinated new audience members.
Throughout the day, roaming interpreters assist visitors in understanding the intricacies of the game, while local marble makers offer demonstrations, each seated at their self-fashioned cutting and polishing machines. In addition to the tournament, a full music festival is held, maintaining the deep regional connection between the game and other expressive cultural practices.
For many in attendance, the event’s focal point is the frequently updated, handmade, manually-operated scoreboard. Committed to serving all, the event also includes kids’ games, a swap meet, a marble hunt, craft activities, and regional food. The competition draws the country’s greatest marble aficionados to an intense scene where players match wit and skills on a smooth dirt surface well into the dark night.
At the time of the festival’s inception, only one active marble yard remained in Tennessee. Through determined fieldwork and community programming led by renowned folklorist and state park employee Bobby Fulcher, the endangered marble tradition was reinvigorated.
Renewed interest burst forth, so much so that twenty marble yards were rehabilitated, and children resumed playing the game. In the nearly four decades since its inauguration, the Rolley Hole Marbles Championship has fostered the talents of hundreds of marble players, marble makers, and musicians.
In 1986, the Rolley Hole tradition was selected to be featured at the Smithsonian’s 1986 Festival of American Folklife in Washington D.C. Tennessee players and marble makers set up the game on the National Mall, and educated visitors from around the world about the extraordinary tradition. In the years since, the tournament has received more national and worldwide media attention than any other event in Tennessee State Park’s history, thus stimulating the tradition’s growth and preservation.
“The National Rolley Hole Marbles Championship is a one-of-a-kind event, unique to Tennessee,” stated David W. Salyers, Tennessee Commissioner of Environment and Conservation. “The event is an extraordinary model for how park staff can help preserve a rich cultural heritage through interpretation and thoughtful resource management.
The Rolley Hole tournament and tradition is a great source of pride for us and all Tennesseans, and we hope it will continue to be a source of pride and wonder for years to come.” Today, under the leadership of Ranger Shawn Hughes, the Championship and the tradition thrive, as school youth camps and weekly programs at Standing Stone continue to lead young people to the game.
The National Rolley Hole Marbles Championship and Festival stands as a singular example of sustainable folk culture and offers a model for similar efforts and programming to communities across the country.
