The area's largest coal-region cultural and heritage celebration will take place Sunday, rain or shine, at the Carbon-Schuylkill county border.

The Ninth Annual Coal Miners Heritage Festival will be held on the grounds of the No. 9 Coal Mine and Museum in Lansford from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., offering free admission and free parking.This year's installment will include music by Coal County Express with bluegrass and folk tunes.Also featured will be a live broadcast of the WMGH Polka program with veteran entertainer and television personality Polka Joe Manjack of Tamaqua. A wide range of musical favorites also will be provided by DJ Shawn Frederickson, Tamaqua.Crafts and food vendors will be set up on the grounds, according to organizer Dale Freudenberger, who said space is still available for those wishing to take part.Exhibits will include "Makin' Moonshine," along with a display of anthracite photography by Tamaqua native Scott Herring and the late George Harvan, plus a Civil War Union medical exhibit, and mine safety and rescue display.A vintage funeral and mourning display will recall traditions no longer seen today, with information provided by historian Bob Vybrenner, Tamaqua."Nineteenth century death and burial customs will be discussed by our resident undertaker who will display original artifacts," said Freudenberger.The brave and hardy will be invited to take part in coal shoveling competition with trophies awarded to the top three finishers. Old-time coal sack races will add to the nostalgia.Buster the Clown will provide fun for kids aged 1 to 99.Displays of antique vehicles, small-town brewery trays, and antique coal signs from the anthracite region will be showcased.Patch-town life historical re-enactors in period dress will stroll the grounds and greet visitors.There also will be a vintage "wash day in the patch" display and demonstration.Dr. Kelly's Old Time Medicine Show will offer tongue-in-cheek, cure-all elixirs for those feeling under the weather, Freudenberger said.The No. 9 Museum will be open and once again the main attraction will be underground tours of the 1855 mine."You can ride the train into the mine and then embark on a fascinating walking tour to see the 900-foot deep elevator shaft, the Go Devil machine, the narrow mule-ways, the breast where the miners mined the coal, and the underground hospital hewed out of solid rock," Freudenberger said.For more information call 610-597-6722, or at the museum, 570-645-7074.The No. 9 Mine is located near the Lansford-Coaldale borough line, four miles east of Tamaqua and ten miles west of Jim Thorpe.