The West Virginia Folk Festival: A Celebration of Local Traditions

 

The West Virginia Folk Festival is held each summer in Glenville, West Virginia, and is a celebration of local art, music, and culture. I attended this festival on Saturday and was surprised to see how sprawling the festival was across the town of Glenville. There were vendors set up all over the town selling their handmade goods and crafts. The usually quiet streets of this small West Virginia town were lined with people talking, laughing, and enjoying the various activities the festival had to offer.

Deanna Lyon, who is from Orma, West Virginia, was at the festival selling her handmade crafts, such as keychains with various designs on them. She heard about the festival from a Facebook group about West Virginia events. She said that the festival brings the community together and boosts local business. I agree with her that events like this help to bring people together, as they encourage people to get out into their communities and connect with other people. It definitely helps to boost local businesses as well. I heard that the local campground at Cedar Creek State Park was completely sold out this weekend with people visiting for the festival.

Heather Coleman, the director of the Gilmer County Library, had a booth set up at the festival giving away free books and plants. She said that it also brings people back to Glenville who may have moved away, but still come back each year for the festival. It helps them to remain connected to their local community and to want to keep coming back to visit, which I think is wonderful. 

I can absolutely see how this festival is helpful to the community by preserving folk traditions. We saw some folk musicians playing music at the festival during the day, and a square dance was hosted in the evening. I listened to a group of men playing a fiddle, a banjo, and a guitar as I sat at a picnic table and ate my deep-fried calzone. There was also a booth set up where people could watch someone do traditional woodworking, and another where they could learn to make their own butter. This festival preserves these folk traditions while allowing visitors to discover and learn more about them.

 

 

 

The Grafton Monster Festival

Last weekend I went to the Grafton Monster Festival in Grafton, West Virginia. The streets were lined with vendors and bustling with visitors from all around the state. We talked to lots of friendly people while we were there, and I was able to gather a better understanding of this event’s origins, and how specifically it benefits the community from the perspectives of community members.

 
Alicia Lyons told me that they had been wanting to put on a Grafton Monster festival for a very long time, and finally decided that it was time to make it happen. They have also opened the Grafton Monster Museum in downtown Grafton. Alicia said that the Grafton Monster Festival is beneficial to the local community by bringing in tourism and boosting the local economy. Events like this can help to boost small town economies by attracting visitors who may not travel to these places otherwise. She also said that by visiting the town during the festival, people may also be introduced to all the cool things that Grafton has to offer, boosting tourism as a whole. 

The folks with Taylor County Prevention Resources told me about the annual Monster Hunt event. The Taylor County Monster Hunt event was started during the COVID-19 pandemic to encourage kids and their families to get outside and into their community, while also learning about local lore. Community members loved it, so they decided to continue doing it even after COVID! Events like this can encourage people to go explore the community they call home and connect with each other. They had a table set up and were selling merch, so of course I had to snag a T-shirt. Here’s a link to a news article if you’d like to learn more: https://www.wvnews.com/mountainstatesman/registration-opens-for-taylor-county-west-virginia-monster-hunt/article_fc114492-84eb-11ef-ba79-7b8dd4435aa7.html 

Next, we headed to Gallery 62 West where we met Mothboy Mike, who was there selling cryptid-themed children’s books that he writes. 

 He said that his interest in local cryptids “goes back a long time ago to my Mother and her love for Bigfoot. That’s where it all started for me as a kid. It was when I saw the movie ‘The Mothman Prophecies’ when I got into West Virginia Cryptids and folklore specifically.” He had heard about the Grafton Monster Festival online, and knew that he had to find a way to get involved, so he reached out to the festival promoter and introduced himself. Now he’s been coming to the festival for two years and selling his books and promoting his cryptid themed comedy podcast. He says that it has been a great experience so far. 

“I think cryptid-themed events are wonderful for local communities,” he said. “These events bring people into these often small towns who truly need the tourism and support. They also showcase how wonderful the state of West Virginia is and how storytelling is the backbone of this great state.” Storytelling and oral traditions are a quintessential part of West Virginia culture, and cryptid tales such as the Grafton Monster are a prime example of how these stories are passed down and loved by communities for generations.

 I feel that cryptid festivals, and folklore events as a whole, are great for local communities in West Virginia. As someone who passes through Grafton often, I thought it was wonderful to see so many people walking down the streets and enjoying the festival on a beautiful sunny day, and visiting the local businesses. I can certainly say that I would like to go back to Grafton, even when there is no festival, just to explore. Most notably, I want to return to Gallery 62 West and the Grafton Monster Museum. I thought the Grafton Monster Festival was such a cool experience and I am so excited to see how it grows and develops in years to come.