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.