A new town is coming to West Virginia, populated by people from all over the country and world.

The town will last only for a dozen days. But in that time, the community known as the Appalachian String Band Music Festival will bring together a diverse population of 3,500 people or more to Camp Washington-Carver at Clifftop.

“Not only does it show West Virginia in its best light, but the fact we attract people from all over the country and the world is no small measure how important this festival is to so many people,” says Jacqueline A. Proctor, deputy commissioner of the state Division of Culture and History.

Starting Friday, people will arrive from across America, Europe and beyond to play and listen to traditional and nontraditional string band music, to square dance and flatfoot. They’ll take in workshops on ballad and gospel singing and jam in impromptu knots until the birds welcome the dawn. Then, they’ll do it again all that day and night, too.

The gates to “String Band” (as it’s called in shorthand) open at 1 p.m. Friday, and pre-festival camping is available through Tuesday. Diehard fans who build vacations around the event start arriving, setting up often elaborate homesteads with carpets, easy chairs, hanging lights and cozy pavilions.

Scheduled events begin with the official start of String Band’s family-friendly workshops, contests, master showcases, craft classes, dance and children’s events from Wednesday through Sunday, Aug. 3. (For the full schedule, see wvculture.org.).

Among the featured bands are Big Hoedown, Born Old, Cat in the Butter, The Cliff Hangers, Mud Hole Control, Old-Time Liberation Front, Orpheus Supertones and the Run of the Mill String Band. Featured “Appalachian Masters” include fiddlers Bruce Molsky (Washington, D.C.), Lester McCumbers (Nicut) and John Blisard (of Elkview).

On the outdoor stage, banjo and fiddle contests take place July 31; the “neo-traditional band contest” is Aug. 1; and traditional band and flatfoot dance contests are Aug. 2.

The “neo-traditional” contest is one of String Band’s most famous events. It attracts bands that blend all kinds of instruments and genres into heady brews. Steel drums, Japanese bluegrass players, reggae folk — all have been heard on the “neo” (or nontraditional, as it used to be called) stage.

“‘Tradition with a twist’ is how I interpret it,” said Proctor.

Groups often form in the moment on the mountain to compete, like the 12-year-old steel drum player who gathered up an impromptu band to compete. “That’s the kind of thing that makes it so intriguing and different.”

Each year, String Band blends its many flavors of music and people in different ways, she said. “It’s very organic. It sort of morphs in front of you. And it’s an absolute pleasure to listen to.”

Want to go?

WHEN: Wednesday through Aug. 3

WHERE: Camp Washington-Carver, Clifftop

COST: Single day: Adults $15, seniors and youths $10; festival pass: Adults $45, seniors and youths $40; families $90, senior families $80

INFO: 438-3005, 558-0220 or www.wvculture.org

Reach Douglas Imbrogno at douglas@cnpapers.com or 348-3017.