Appalachian Festival to begin this week

Aug. 19—A week-long festival, meant to celebrate Appalachian heritage, will begin this week in Raleigh County.

Running Aug. 20-28, the 25th annual Appalachian Festival, sponsored by the Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce, will include a range of events and activities that highlight the longstanding talents and traditions of those in Appalachian including their cuisine, music and handmade goods.

The week will conclude with the Appalachian Maker's Market, formerly the Appalachian Arts & Craft Fair, now in its 57th year along with a street fair in downtown Beckley.

Michelle Rotellini, president and CEO of the Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce, said this weeklong festival truly celebrates what makes the Appalachian region and its people special.

"Our culture was developed over a lot of years with a lot of European influence that came into the area and built a lot of our small towns that were based around the coal industry," Rotellini said. "Appalachia is a lot of different cultures combined that make us special and it's important that we show off this specialness to others that may want to visit."

The Appalachian Festival begins Saturday, Aug. 20, with two major festivals, the Beckley Honey Festival and the Craft Beer and Wine Festival.

Hosted by the Raleigh County Beekeepers Cooperative Association, the fourth annual Beckley Honey Festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The event is is filled with honeybee products, activities and vendors — all on the grounds of the Exhibition Coal Mine at 513 Ewart Ave. adjacent to New River Park in Beckley.

The third annual Craft Beer and Wine Festival will take place from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday at Daniel Vineyards, located at 200 Twin Oaks Road in Crab Orchard. Tickets are $20, cash only, at the gate and include complimentary wine and beer tastings from local wineries and breweries and a commemorative Daniel Vineyards wine glass. Event-goers can also expect live music as well as local food and craft vendors.

Appalachian Restaurant Week will kick off Monday at 15 participating local restaurants. Rotellini said each of the restaurants will feature different Appalachian food offerings from the ever-popular pepperoni rolls to foods which incorporate West Virginia's state fruit, the Golden Delicious apple.

No passes, coupons or tickets are required for the event.

Rotellini said Restaurant Week, now in its second year, serves as a great way to entice visitors to stop by as well as encourage locals to visit restaurants they don't normally frequent.

Some of the businesses participating in this year's Restaurant Week include:

Kozy Farm's Sweets offering apple pie moonshine cupcakes, hand pies and banana pudding

Tamarack Marketplace offering smoked trout and fried green tomato sandwiches

Calacino's offering homemade pepperoni rolls

Dobra Zupas offering a fried goat cheese burger

The Dish Café offering brown beans, fried potatoes and cornbread

"Appalachian cuisine is about mixing a lot of different cultural foods together," Rotellini said.

She added that the festival serves as a great way to show off and showcase all that these local restaurants have to offer.

The Raleigh County Library has also planned a number of Appalachian Festival themed activities for the week. Starting at noon Saturday, Aug. 20, at the Beckley Branch on North Kanawha Street, the library will host a slime making event for kids ages 6-11. The library is calling it Appalachian Slime and will be making slime scented to smell like Golden Delicious apples.

Other activities at the library include a Mountain Mud Bugs and Animal Shelter Royalty event at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27. The library will also offer Appalachian Festival themed puzzles for ages 12 and up all week.

Rotellini said another great activity to highlight during the Appalachian Festival is the coal mine tour offered at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine.

"Coal mining is a huge part of that Appalachian culture," she said, pointing out that the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine was recently named among the Top 10 Best History Museums in the United States.

"We were number eight and that's huge," Rotellini said. "And that's because people are interested in that coal mining heritage, people are fascinated by it. It's really what built a lot of America. So it's great that we have something so unique that we can really showcase."

The Maker's Market will take place Friday, Aug. 26, and Saturday, Aug. 27, at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center. The market will be open both days from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Rotellini said the market was rebranded a few years ago to better represent the history and the heritage that is behind some of the handmade items offered at the market.

"These makers have spent the entire year working on their craft," she said. "They're so meticulously created and it's nothing like what you might buy in the store that was produced overseas in a shop. These are things made with love in someone's home."

Some of these makers will be offering homemade food such as apple butter, jams and gourmet apples. Others at the market will be producing everything from homemade brooms and lamps to ceramics and coal jewelry.

Rotellini said these unique makers are her personal favorite of the festival.

"I'm always particularly excited to just get out and see things that are reflective of Appalachia and find unique gifts for my loved ones for birthdays and other celebrations," she said.

Rotellini said she is also grateful to their sponsors for helping make the event possible including the headline sponsor, Raleigh General Hospital, and entertainment sponsor, Pendleton Community Bank.

Another longstanding tradition of the Maker's Market is the Appalachian Treasures Quilt Show, which Rotellini said is an integral part of the festival. Now in its 47th year, the theme for this year's quilt show is log cabin, Rotellini said.

"(The quilts) will be displayed around the convention center and they're judged for the first, second and third place in 15 different categories," she said. "They're always an attraction that people really look forward to."

Rotellini said she also enjoys all the live music that is offered during the festival.

Friday's lineup of musicians playing at the Maker's Market includes Lost Cannon from 2 to 3 p.m. and Shane Ingram & Friends from 4 to 5 p.m. On Saturday, Buddy Allen and The Cheat River Band will play from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Live music can also be heard at the Appalachian Festival Street Fair, which will be the festival's final event. Taking place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in downtown Beckley, the street fair will include food vendors, pop-up shops and art while also featuring local organizations and downtown businesses.

Live music will be performed in various areas though downtown starting with the New River Jazz Band at 5:30 p.m. at the Federal Plaza on Heber Street. This will be followed by Seeking Altitude at 6 p.m. in Jim Word Memorial Park, Untrained Professionals at 7 p.m. on the deck by the cardinal sculpture at the intersection of Neville and Heber streets and finally Matt Mullins & The Bringdowns at 7:45 p.m. on the portable stage near Main and Fayette streets.

Whether people are looking for local foods or handmade goods, Rotellini said there is something for everyone to enjoy during the Appalachian Festival.

For a full list of events, including restaurants participating in Restaurant Week, go to appalachianfestival.net.