Standing Stone State Park to host National Rolley Hole Marbles Championship and Festival Sept. 14

Robert Emberton in competition at the National Rolley Hole Marbles Championship. Photo by Sarah Hanson

37th annual event draws country’s best players to Tennessee state park

HILHAM – Standing Stone State Park will host the National Rolley Hole Marbles Championship and Festival on Saturday, Sept. 14, drawing some of the country’s best players to Tennessee where they will match skills in what is known as the “Super Bowl of Marbles.”

In its 37th year, the event will feature world-class marble competitions, live music, marble-making exhibits and demonstrations, food vendors and much more.

“Standing Stone is the only state park in the nation with a marble yard, mainly due to the fact that some of the best players hail from Tennessee’s Clay County,” Park Ranger Shawn Hughes said. “The championship is the most challenging marble tournament, where only the finest players dare to compete. It’s been a great event for the park and the local community, as it’s the only one of its kind in the world.”

Co-hosted by the Friends of Standing Stone State Park, the free festival will kick off at 8 a.m. Registration, which closes on Sept. 4, is required to compete in the tournament.

The musical lineup includes bluegrass and old-time groups the Lindsey Family, Uncle Shuffelo & His Haint Hollow Hootenanny, Clearview, the Cumberland Band, New Stillhouse Reelers, High Country Strings and New River Rising.  Event sponsors for 2019 include Honest Abe Log Homes, J&S Construction, Tennessee Arts Commission, Union Bank & Trust Company, Woodmen Life, the Building Center and Twin Lakes Petroleum.

Rolley Hole is a folk game similar to croquet. It will be played by the rules of the National Rolley Hole Marbles Championship on a dirt yard which measures 40×25 feet. The strategy comes by determining the best way to keep opponents from making the hole, which often requires skillful hard shots against their marbles, sending them ricocheting across the yard.

Standing Stone State Park is located 10 miles north of Livingston, just off of Highway 52 near Celina and covers nearly 1,000 acres on the Cumberland Plateau of north-central Tennessee. 

For more information about the festival and Standing Stone State Park, contact (931) 823-6347 or visit https://tnstateparks.com/parks/standing-stone.

Dancing at the music festival as part of the National Rolley Hole Marbles Championship at Standing Stone State Park. Photo by Sarah Hanson

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