Events include music from Grammy Award-winning musicians, a movie series, a literary series, history presentations, a rodeo, fireworks, Southern Appalachian square dances, a Miss Labor Day Pageant, a Mater Festival, downtown district tours, mill tours, athletic events, a parade, and a football stadium concert featuring the Charlie Daniels Band.

It’s enough to make your eyes spin, but festival organizers and town leaders have been planning and coordinating the details for months to make sure it all goes well. And for a town that was in desperate shape only two years ago after hurricane floods washed through the downtown district twice in a matter of weeks, the Labor Day celebration is as much about local civic pride and rebounding from disaster as it is about recognizing history.

Beginning this week and concluding with the Sept. 4 Labor Day commemoration, the Town of Canton will have some type of event almost every single day with multiple events on some days. All the events take place in and around downtown Canton.

Since 1906, the town has been celebrating workers during Labor Day, and the Blue Ridge Paper mill (formerly known as Champion) has played an integral part of the town since it opened in 1908. The mill will offer two tours (at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.) every Monday, Wednesday and Friday of the week in August. The Town of Canton and the Canton Area Historical Museum have teamed up to sponsor walking tours of downtown Canton as well as a multimedia presentation illustrating the unique history of Canton, the history of the paper mill and the town’s legacy of social programs. For those interested in a history panel discussion on the impact of Champion and Blue Ridge Paper, there’s a free event at the Colonial Theatre Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. featuring George Loveland, author of Under the Workers’ Caps.

History buffs will also be able to explore the roots of early Haywood County history with the commemoration of the 230th anniversary of the Rutherford Trace expedition. Re-enactor soldiers will present a short drama looking back on the life and times of the Revolutionary War and the Patriot campaign of 1776 that scorched and blazed through Cherokee towns in Western North Carolina.

There’s something for everyone in Canton’s Labor Day festivities. In the mood for a classy affair? Try the Mayor/Alderman’s Ball at the newly renovated Canton Armory. Looking for a good movie? Stop by the Colonial Theatre on Wednesday nights to see “Cold Mountain,” “Last of the Mohicans,” “Thunder Road” and “The Patriot.” Looking for some great music? Check out the Thursday night music concert series at the Colonial Theatre, which features top-notch entertainers Kate Campbell, Whitewater Bluegrass, David Holt and the Lightning Bolts, and Tim O’Brien.

The first weekend of August includes the third annual Mater Festival, featuring a Ms. Hot Tamale Contest, Lil’ Miss Tommie Toe and Mr. Tommie Toe contests, a car show, antique vendors, dancers, face painting, arts and crafts demonstrations, martial arts demonstrations, historical walks, horse and wagon rides, and lots of music including a “Battle of the Bands” contest.

Family events in August also include Pickin’ in the Park on Friday nights; Midway carnival rides (Aug. 31- Sept. 4); a traditional mountain hoe down with live music on the street (Aug. 24), and a rodeo (Aug. 18-19).

Art lovers will be able to experience plenty of free events including a reading by N.C. Poet Laureate Kathryn Stripling Byer of Cullowhee (Aug. 8), the one-woman play “Ivy Rowe” starring Barbara Bates Smith of Crabtree (Aug. 29), the make-and-share Art in the Park (Aug. 27).

Sports fans will be able to enjoy everything from softball tournaments, guided bike, and a 5K race (Aug. 5) in honor of Canton’s native son, Army Staff Sgt. Michael Parrott, who was killed while in military service in Iraq.