Festival Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Comedy Festival Returns To Morgantown

A weekend of comedy kicks off Thursday in Morgantown. Now in its second year, the Red Eye Comedy Festival not only highlights the state’s nascent comedy community, but is also attracting national talent to the region.

Reporter Chris Schulz sat down with festival organizer Cody Cannon to discuss the event.

A weekend of comedy kicks off Thursday in Morgantown. Now in its second year, the Red Eye Comedy Festival not only highlights the state’s nascent comedy community but is also attracting national talent to the region.

Reporter Chris Schulz sat down with festival organizer Cody Cannon to discuss the event.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Schulz: What exactly is the Red Eye Comedy Festival?

Cannon: Just basically a celebration of everything the comedy community has done over the past few years here in downtown Morgantown with a couple of lead up shows across the state. The festival itself is held in downtown Morgantown, multiple venues bringing some of my favorite nationally touring talent starting Thursday, March 30. Friday, Saturday, April 1 is the all-day comedy and beer festival just like we did last year at Morgantown Brewing Company. Eddie Pepitone is doing a late-night show at 123, closing out the whole festival. I did my best to make it a really great deal and experience for those who want to attend.

Schulz: This is your second year doing this now. What goes into an independent festival?

Cannon: Everything I’ve done has been super independent and also my first time doing anything like this stuff. I’m just kind of piecing things together as I go along and figuring out what works.

I need to first reach out to potential headliners and lock those in, try to find a diverse group of people. I also do my festival submission-based. All of the local and regional I try to give them a little more favor because they put a lot of work into the community and stuff. But I also want to highlight people around Appalachia and the country in general. If people are interested in flying out for a weekend festival, then I’d love to have you, but definitely want to focus on local and regional talent. This year, I think we probably had a good 100, maybe 80, submissions, something like that.

Schulz: That’s primarily from West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, or…?

Cannon: Yeah! But we got some people from like Colorado, St. Louis. We have a couple of comedians, like coming from Louisville, and, you know, Florida and stuff like that.

Schulz: What did you learn from last year?

Cannon: I need to get so much more done in advance. I’ve done a little better this year. But next year, I’m planning on stepping it up even further. I’m definitely going forward hoping to reach out to and potentially get grants so I can potentially bring in bigger names and things like that. I just have no experience in that matter, and so I’m just kind of figuring all of this out as I go along.

Schulz: The festival isn’t just local comedians, as you alluded to there, you’re bringing in some pretty big names. Why is it important for you to obviously highlight local comedians, but also to bring in some of those bigger names?

Cannon: Well, for me, I’ve committed to staying here. I have a kid here, I want to stay here at least till he’s old enough to travel. So I want comedians to want to come to the state since I’ve committed to staying here. Also I just really love the state. I’m hoping this summer to take a couple of comedians on whitewater rafting trips. And every time a comedian comes through town, always the morning after a show I take them to Tudor’s Biscuit World. I try to make it an experience.

For me, it’s cool because I’m hanging out with people I look up to and aspire to be like one day. But it’s also because I get to introduce a community, the comedy community, to a place that I love very much. Since I started producing shows after things opened up in 2021, most of the comedians that I’ve had through have told me that it’s the first time they’ve ever been to West Virginia, other than maybe driving through but never like stopping for shows.

I would love to see the state thrive. I would love to see more tourism. The music scene is pretty great, and you get a lot of pretty fantastic touring bands. I just saw an opportunity, a vacuum, for touring comedy and decided to open up those roads and have more stops for comedians to potentially make money.

Schulz: Talk to me a little bit about, you know, the local scene and how that’s been progressing since you started this last year.

Cannon: I’m so grateful that I am surrounded with so many talented and excited and enthusiastic comedians because everyone’s pulling their own weight. Everybody’s kind of doing little things here and there to try to make the scene more exciting and interesting to people who might not normally think to come to a show in Morgantown, West Virginia. I’m just so proud of where everyone’s at and how hard everyone is working. Everyone’s constantly coming to the stage with fresh and exciting material and trying to work on new stuff and I’m really proud of everyone that I work with.

Schulz: Why do you think it’s important to set up a festival and not just focus exclusively on your set, your show and yourself?

Cannon: For one I wouldn’t be where I am without the community I have. It’s a chance for me to show off to this great community. So many of these nationally touring comics that you mentioned, have been like, “Wow, you have a great thing set up here. These people are really supportive. These venues are really cool.”

I like to give back. I’ve always enjoyed festivals in general. Wine and Jazz is one of my favorite weekends of the year. I love a good music festival. I’ve always wanted to do something like that. And so this is kind of me making something happen out of what I love. I don’t know, I just want to keep growing the scene and want people to keep wanting to come to West Virginia. 123 is a magical venue. Every comedian that’s performed there, it’s like “This place is something special.” So, I want to keep that going.

More information, including a list of featured comedians and participating venues, can be found on the Red Eye Comedy Facebook page.

Hinton Railroad Days Festival Gears Up For The Weekend

Thousands of visitors are expected to make their way to Summers County in southern West Virginia for the Hinton Railroad Days Festival this weekend.

The four day festival coincides with daily train rides from Huntington to Hinton on the Autumn Colors Express. The trip offers scenic views of the fall colors of the New River Gorge. All four trips are sold out after two years without making the trips because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event also features live music on two stages, food and local vendors. Music acts include Randy Gilkey, the Lincoln County Cloggers, and the Parachute Brigade.

There will also be a public lecture about the settlement of Summers and Monroe Counties at the McCreery Conference and Event Center on Friday afternoon.

The Hinton Railroad Days Festival is Thursday, Oct. 20 – Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022.

West Virginia Black Heritage Festival Returns

After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the West Virginia Black Heritage Festival will take place this weekend in Clarksburg.

The West Virginia Black Heritage Festival is returning to Clarksburg this weekend for its 30th year.

After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the West Virginia Black Heritage Festival will take place this weekend in Clarksburg.

Started in 1990 by the Kelly Miller Alumni Association as a celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation, the festival aims to inspire African American youth by awarding scholarships.

The Kelly Miller School was a Black school in Clarksburg until desegregation in 1956. In the 1980’s some of the school’s alumni formed an association and foundation to further Black education efforts through scholarships

This year’s scholarship recipients will be crowned Youth King and Queen to kick off Saturday’s events.

The weekend’s festivities include a golf tournament, a Youth Block Party Friday evening, as well as a concert on Main Street Saturday afternoon.

Find more information about the festival at WV Black Heritage Festival on Facebook or at wvbhf.com.

Greenbrier Fish Hatchery Part Of Educational Music Festival

A festival in Greenbrier County is celebrating West Virginia heritage and culture by offering tours of a fish hatchery. The Freshwater Folk Festival is intended to encourage visitor appreciation and conservation of freshwater resources.

A Greenbrier County festival is celebrating West Virginia heritage and culture by offering tours of a fish hatchery. The Freshwater Folk Festival is intended to encourage visitor appreciation and conservation of freshwater resources.

The one day festival includes activities such as live music, bounce houses, displays, demonstrations and hands-on activities.

Some of the live music acts include:

Richard Hefner and The Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys
The Sea The Sea
Kipyn Martin
Jim Snyder
The Rust Brothers

Visitors can access a solar telescope to view sunspot activity, which is reaching a maximum this decade.

Other activities include:

Wildlife presentations
US Fish and Wildlife Service exhibits
Hanging Rocks Raptor Observatory exhibits
US Forest Service exhibits
Environmental art activity

The White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery is part of The National Fish Hatchery System which has been improving recreational fishing and restoring aquatic species since 1872.

Visitors can tour the White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery this Saturday., Sept. 10. The Freshwater Folk Festival at the White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery is Saturday, Sept. 10 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Historic Mansion Comes to Life Through Wine & Jazz

Happy Retreat is a historic mansion in Charles Town that was once the home of Charles Washington – founder of Charles Town and brother to the nation’s first president. Today, the house is becoming a hub for public events, community outreach, history and tourism.

On a hot Saturday afternoon in June, hundreds of locals and out of town tourists stop by a historic mansion in Charles Town, West Virginia known as Happy Retreat.

They’re here for a day of wine and jazz out on the back lawn.

A volunteer serves wine to a man attending the Happy Retreat Wine and Jazz Festival on June 9, 2018.

Inside the Happy Retreat mansion, visitors explore the first floor taking in the historic rooms.

This house was built in the 1780s by George Washington’s youngest brother, Charles Washington – the founder of Charles Town. It was his home until he died. For more than 200 years, Happy Retreat was a private residence, but then in 2006, the owners at the time were elderly, and the future of the house was unclear.

That same year, a group of locals formed a nonprofit group called “Friends of Happy Retreat” to restore and protect the mansion — and boost tourism for the area, too. Nine years later, the group purchased the home and began holding events on the property.

A portrait of Charles Washington, founder of Charles Town, W.Va., hangs on the wall of one of the first floor rooms in the Happy Retreat mansion.

“Friends of Happy Retreat” do charge tickets to attend their events and festivals, but everyone involved in putting those events together are volunteers, and all the proceeds go to further restoring the house.

Stephanie Somers was born and raised in Charles Town. She says she’s glad to see the direction the mansion is taking and was excited to come out for the wine and jazz festival.

“By opening places like this up to the public, you’re inviting them in, and you’re; maybe by them coming in, they develop this sense of personal ownership of it; this is a part of my community,” Somers said, “and by developing that sense of ownership, they’re gonna care a lot more about it, and it’s going to be so much easier to preserve and maintain these places forever.”

Another festival-attendee, Evan Clark, is a resident from Winchester, Virginia. He crossed state lines just to attend the event. He says bringing people out to the mansion in this way will help keep the history alive.

“I’m embarrassed to say; I used to be a history teacher, and I didn’t know that George Washington’s brother lived here,” Clark said, “so this type of pairing; you know, wine and jazz festival, brings people to the venue and allows us to learn the history, and then understand also that it costs a lot of money, so maybe they’ll come for a tour, maybe they’ll become a donor or benefactor, and we can preserve that history by exposing more people to it. So, I think this is just a wonderful pairing.”

It’s for exactly those reasons, Charles Town resident Walter Washington wanted to turn Happy Retreat into what it is today – a historic landmark that draws visitors through community events.

“It was important to have a place in town that could really be; that would draw; a place for heritage tourism,” Washington said.

Walter Washington, descendant of George Washington’s brother, Samuel Washington. Walter is the President of the nonprofit, “Friends of Happy Retreat.”

Fun fact about Walter — he’s actually a direct descendant of George Washington’s other brother, Samuel. Walter’s responsible for starting that nonprofit we mentioned, “Friends of Happy Retreat,” to ensure the mansion’s survival.

“You know, we have the courthouse of course where John Brown was tried, and that’s a hugely important historical structure,” Washington noted, “but this goes back to, you know, the 1780s, and there was no place in Charles Town that really told that story; the story of the early part of town.”

Rather than turn the house into a museum, Walter wanted to bring the place to life by incorporating its history into fun events like wine and jazz, book talks, craft beer festivals, and chamber music concerts.

Walter says by making this historic spot a vibrant and exciting place to visit, he hopes it will enrich the community and help increase tourism for the entire state.

“Jefferson County is really the eastern gateway to West Virginia,” he said, “I mean, we have all of the, I don’t know how many million people live in the Washington-Baltimore metropolitan areas, with all the suburbs of the surrounding counties, and so this is really the gateway to West Virginia for those people. I mean, they come to Harpers Ferry, but that’s; Harpers Ferry is the very eastern tip of the whole state, and so if we can draw them in this way, a little further, we can tell more stories that way.”

A potted flower sits in a window of the Happy Retreat mansion. Outside is the back lawn of the house. A temporary stage has been built for the Wine and Jazz Festival on June 9, 2018.

There’s something special about putting yourself in a historic space while listening to music or a guest speaker at the same time, that’s according to Director of the Happy Retreat Wine and Jazz Festival Fiona Harrison.

“I’m from the west coast, you know, we don’t have old buildings like this; we have different sets of history; we have Mexican explorers and the pueblos and the missions and stuff,” Harrison explained, “but to have an old building like this where former presidents have sat and met and probably had dinner and conducted business, it’s, I think the community is missing out if they don’t know that, that sort of thing happened here.”

In the fall, Happy Retreat will host a Craft Beer and Music Festival.

Once a Foodie Fruit, Could Pawpaws Have Economic Impact in Appalachia?

Those who’ve eaten a pawpaw before often say that the creamy, tropical fruit resembles a mix of a mango and a banana, or a mango and an avocado. They often can’t believe that the fruit is native to Appalachia.

“It’s creamy, but you get that tropical fruit taste,” said Katie Wight, a resident of Athens, Ohio, upon eating her first paw-paw. “It’s not really mango, but mango-papaya – that kind of genre.”

To the rest of the country, the pawpaw is little-known. It’s not commercially grown, in part because it’s so tricky to eat – it’s not ripe until it looks rotten on the outside, and ingesting the seeds or the skin causes some to fall ill. But the Appalachian fruit is showing potential.

Katie Wight holding first pawpaw at the Ohio Pawpaw Festival

In Charleston, a locally-owned ice cream shop called Ellens Homemade Ice Cream increased its supply of pawpaw ice cream this fall due to increased demand. And every year, thousands flock to Athens, Ohio, to celebrate the Pawpaw Festival, where they can learn about the pawpaw and buy pawpaw art, saplings and raw pawpaws.

“At my place, a Belgian gentleman comes and buys all my seeds,” said one attendee who traveled from his home in the Netherlands for the eighteenth annual Pawpaw Festival this year. He spoke of the growing market for pawpaws in Europe. “Before that I threw them away but he pays me 15 cents a piece. I ask him (why) and he says he (uses it) for curing cancer.”

pawpaw teapot by artist, on display at the Ohio Pawpaw Festival

According to Andy Moore, a writer who recently published a book called Pawpaw: In Search of America’s Forgotten Fruit, pawpaws have been consumed in the United States for generations. Towns are named after the fruit, and folk songs, like “Way Down Yonder in the Pawpaw Patch,” have been written about them.

Writer Andy Moore in Phyllis, Kentucky at the Lucky Penny General Store.
Credit courtesy Andy Moore

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In the last few years, pawpaws have started to be cultivated on a very small scale. “People are growing them in orchards now, just like you would any other crop, which will hopefully give people more opportunity to taste it and experience it,” Moore said.

A man dressed as a tree was available to take photos with children at the Ohio Pawpaw Festival

Some pawpaw fans hope that pawpaws can be included in the forest farming or agroforestry movement, which means growing and harvesting crops like ramps or pawpaws in the forest that many West Virginians landowners own. Walt Helmick, the West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture, says that they haven’t looked into pawpaws as a commercial fruit yet, even though they are unique to the Appalachian region.

“We need to see what we can do with agriculture in the forest more than we have in years gone by,” Helmick said.