Tag: Mothman Festival

Wild Mushroom Safety And Our Song Of The Week, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, wild mushrooms can be delicious or dangerous, and tours can teach the difference. And we have our Mountain Stage Song of the Week.

On this West Virginia Morning, wild mushrooms come out in the fall, but it’s best not to pick them unless you know what you’re doing. Radio IQ’s Roxy Todd joined a guided mushroom tour in southwestern Virginia to find out a little more.

Also, the annual Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant is this weekend, a power rate increase for residential customers is off the table and Governor Jim Justice declines to participate in a Senate debate with his opponent.

And our Mountain Stage Song of the Week comes from Fantastic Cat. “All My Fault” is performed by the indie “supergroup” comprised of some of New York’s best singer-songwriters, including Anthony D’Amato, Brian Dunne, Don DiLego, and Mike Montali.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content. 

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.

West Virginia Morning is produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caelan Bailey, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Liz McCormick, Maria Young and Randy Yohe.

Eric Douglas is our news director. Teresa Wills is our host. Maria Young produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Mothman Festival Celebrates W.Va. Legend, Packs International Paranormal Punch 

The largest paranormal gathering in the eastern United States happens this weekend in Point Pleasant. The annual Mothman Festival commemorates the sighting of an infamous, red-eyed legend with wings.

What started out in 2003 with hot dogs and books on a couple of folding tables has grown to thousands who come to Mason County from across the country, and the globe. They flock to the Ohio River city to revel in all things Mothman…and then some.

Back in 1966, some locals claimed to spot a mysterious, red eyed, flying what-ever-it-was. Area school children were sheltered in place. And, as festival co-founder Jeff Wamsley explains, the Mothman legend grew. 

“There was a professor from WVU that came in and said it was a Sandhill Crane,” Wamsley said. “Some people just thought it was an enormous bird. One guy said it was as big as an airplane.  Some of the original witnesses said it resembled a man with wings and those prominent red eyes.”

This weekend’s Saturday and Sunday festival will have all the usual food vendors, kid-friendly areas and live bands playing on the riverfront. But there will also be plenty of the unusual.

Costumed creatures, including various versions of Mothman, Men in Black and numerous otherworldly beings, will descend on Point Pleasant’s Main Street. Visitors can get t-shirts and more at the Mothman Museum, then take selfies with the giant, gleaming silver Mothman statue. 

On Saturday, the fest includes presentations from several renowned paranormal experts and filmmakers.  

Point Pleasant Tourism Director Denny Bellamy says one festival highlight begins after dark. That’s when hayrides will loop the brave and curious through the abandoned World War II TNT bunkers just outside town, where the winged behemoth was first sighted.   

“It kind of brings that whole thing to life when you see the area out there,” Bellamy said.  “Knowing that it’s an abandoned facility where they made the explosives in testing the nuclear bomb goes along with the whole narrative.”

Bellamy says the Mothman legend has fueled an economic boom in Point Pleasant, making it the most filmed community in West Virginia. 

“We’ve made over 70 Mothman television shows in the last three years,” Bellamy said. “There’s a Mothman show currently running on probably 16 different networks. And for all of the paranormal people, other than Roswell, New Mexico out west, this is the place to be.”

For details on this weekend’s festival, including parking tips, a list of guest speakers and other TNT area tours, go to mothmanfestival.com.   

West Virginia Mothman Festival Postponed Due To Virus Outbreak

An annual festival that commemorates a local legend about a “Mothman” in West Virginia has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

If the festival honoring the legend of the red-eyed creature’s sightings in Point Pleasant was held this September as previously scheduled, it would “be subpar and lackluster to what has been built over the last 18 years,” organizers for the event said on Facebook while announcing the change Thursday. The festival has now been moved to September 2021.

Admission to the event held in downtown Point Pleasant is free to the public and features live music and cosplay. Visitors have to pay a fee to see the Mothman Museum and for some attractions, according to the festival.

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