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Vandalia Gathering

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The popular Vandalia Gathering takes place at the state capitol every Memorial Day weekend.

Events for May 2016

• New River Birding & Nature Festival

  May 02, 2016 to May 07, 2016 — Fayetteville, Fayette

  Since 2002, the annual New River Birding & Nature Festival takes place in and around the New River Gorge National River, in the heart of the upland, hardwood forests that Cornell Lab of Ornithology has identified as a crucial stopover habitat for the continued survival of species such as Golden-winged, Blue-winged, and Swainson’s Warbler, as well as the Scarlet Tanager. This bird watching nature festival highlights more than 100 bird species on a variety of birding tours.

  A friendly birding vacation for everyone, the week long event features guided birding and nature excursions, world-class speakers, the finest collection of guides, tasty food, and a back-porch atmosphere unmatched by any other birding festival. Signature guided bird watching experiences include the opportunity to visit a wide range of habitats, world class instruction for those wanting to enhance their birding skills, and the best guide-to-guest ratio on the festival circuit.

  May 2 – 7, 2016. Preregistration is required. http://www.birding-wv.com/
• “Shenandoah Clay” Pottery Exhibit

  May 04, 2016 to June 04, 2016 — Martinsburg, Berkeley

  The Berkeley Arts Council presents “Shenandoah Clay”, an selection of pottery by members of the Shenandoah Potters Guild. The exhibit will be on display from May 4 through June 4 in the Special Exhibit Gallery at the Berkeley Art Works, 116 North Queen Street in Martinsburg. A reception, free and open to the public, will be on Saturday, May 14 from 4-6pm at the gallery. Gallery hours are Wed 11-5, Thu 11-5, Fri 11-8, Sat 10-5, Sun 12-3. More information.
• Berkeley Arts Council presents “Off the Shelves”

  May 04, 2016 to June 04, 2016 — Martinsburg, Berkeley

  The Berkeley Arts Council presents “Off the Shelves”, a select collection of hand-made clocks created by Anna Howard, a mixed media collage artist who specializes in clock making. The exhibit will be on display May 4 through June 4 in the Back Space Gallery of the Berkeley Art Works, 116 North Queen Street in Martinsburg. A reception, free and open to the public, will be on Saturday, May 14 from 4-6pm at the gallery. Gallery hours are Wed 11-5, Thu 11-5, Fri 11-8, Sat 10-5, Sun 12-3. More information.
• Fifteenth Annual Scottish Festival

  May 06, 2016 to May 08, 2016 — Bridgeport, Harrison

  The Fifteenth Annual Scottish Festival is coming up May 6-8, 2016…

  …And we are looking forward to a great Festival … We will have the events, exhibitors and activities you have come to expect … pipe bands, professional entertainers, heavy athletics, living history presentations, Scottish goods vendors, Scottish country dancing, dancing competitions, piping competitions, sheep herding demonstrations, genealogy assistance … and much more.

  The 2016 Festival is held the weekend of May 6-8, 2016 in Bridgeport, West Virginia. Friday night has a Ceilidh, a party with music, food and conversation. The main Festival is on Saturday all day at the Bridgeport City Park. On Saturday evening we have a concert with our professional entertainers.at the Bridgeport High School. On Sunday, there is a Kirkin of the Tartans, a short parade in downtown Clarksburg followed by a church service at the First Presbyterian Church.

  http://www.northcentralwestvirginiascottishfestival.com/
• Cheat River Festival

  May 07, 2016 — Albright, Preston

  The annual Cheat River Festival is a celebration of new life, that which comes each Spring and the new life that can be found in the Cheat River watershed. Cheat Fest is Friends of the Cheat’s annual fundraiser which helps us advance our watershed projects and supports the organization’s administrative costs. Rain or shine, Cheat Fest is always a good time!

  From 11:30am ’till 11:30pm on Saturday, May 7th, the festival grounds in Albright, West Virginia will once again transform into a haven for boaters, music lovers, and families. Bands from all over Appalachia will entertain crowds with live music all day, while Fest goers browse the Art Market, learn about other non-profit organizations that share the FOC vision, bid on a great array of silent auction goods, buy from a variety of food and merchandise vendors, and above all, help support Friends of the Cheat.

  Another reason to love Cheat Fest: kids under twelve are free! This year, kids of all ages will congregate at the ever-growing Kid’s Tent from noon ’till 5:00pm for a host of hands-on activities. http://cheatfest.org/
• 12th annual Engines and Wheels Festival

  May 07, 2016 — North Bend, Ritchie

  This festival features old fashioned engines and “turn of the century” industrial, oil field, and farm machinery. Check out the live demonstrations, craft vendors, great food, and much more. May 7, 2016, at North Bend State Park.

  Contact: Dave Wilson, 304-628-3587
• Spring Gas and Steam Engine Show

  May 07, 2016 to May 08, 2016 — West Virginia State Farm Museum, Mason

  May 7 – 8, 2016 Spring Gas and Steam Engine Show

  Antique Gas Engine Show

  Historic Buildings and Displays

  Church Services (9am) – Sunday

  Gospel Sing (1:30pm) – Sunday

  Country Kitchen and Store Open

  Antique Tractor Pull – Saturday 1pm

  http://www.wvfarmmuseum.org/
• Woody Hawley Concert Series: Ron Sowell

  May 07, 2016 — Charleston, Kanawha

  The series, presented by Unity of Kanawha Valley and hosted by Ron Sowell, features some of the best singer/songwriters in the world once a month from September through May. Small tables and chairs are brought in to the intimate Walker Theater at the Clay Center to create a cabaret-style venue with a big-city feel. With its exquisite sound system, lighting, and intimate atmosphere, the theater has become the perfect location to enjoy an evening of music with friends. http://www.woodyhawleyconcerts.com/

  • 7:30pm May 7, 2016
  • Ron Sowell
  • Opening Act: The Spanglers
  • Concert to be held in the Walker Theater
• The Sleeping Beauty at Chuck Mathena Center

  May 08, 2016 — Princeton, Mercer

  The Moscow Festival Ballet and Chuck Mathena Center present The Sleeping Beauty on Sunday, May 8 at 3pm. A full length ballet and two acts. Do not miss what is considered to be the finest achievement in Russian Classical ballet…The Sleeping Beauty is a wonderful Mother’s Day treat, and will be a commendable finale to the 2015-2016 season at the Chuck Mathena Center. Tickets are $35 Adults/$32 Students. On sale now at 304 425-5128 or online at www.chuckmathenacenter.
• Hatfields & McCoys: American Blood Feud traveling exhibit

  May 13, 2016 to June 24, 2016 — Bridgeport, Harrison WVHC Event

  Developed by the West Virginia Humanities Council and illustrated by West Virginia University graphic design students with financial support from ZMM Architects and Engineers, this traveling exhibit relates the history of the events that have become synonymous with the word feud. May 13 – June 24 at United Hospital Center, Bridgeport.
• Second Friday Poetry Reading

  May 13, 2016 — Martinsburg, Berkeley

  Second Friday Poetry Reading; Beginning at 6:30 pm, come sign in, meet our newest interest group and share your enjoyment of poetry, serious or fun, passionate or simple and enduring. Until 8:00 or so, reading in order of signing in. The evening is free and open to the public. (Donations to support the Art Works are appreciated.) Berkeley Art Works, 116 North Queen Street, Martinsburg.
• West Virginia Strawberry Festival

  May 14, 2016 to May 22, 2016 — Buckhannon, Upshur

  The West Virginia Strawberry Festival is a unique, traditional celebration to honor the strawberry harvest. Enthusiastic volunteers provide good, family style entertainment that offers exciting educational and cultural events for everyone.

  Children and adults alike will enjoy the fun and thrills of the carnival. Take a stroll through the arts and craft exhibits, quilt show, or the photography show. Enjoy the variety of Main Street and Courthouse entertainment or stop by the band competition, car show, strawberry auction, or your favorite sporting event. You won’t want to miss the huge block parties of entertainment on Main Street on Friday and Saturday nights.

  Come join us and you’ll discover that there is no better way to begin your summer! http://www.wvstrawberryfestival.com/
• St. Albans Founders Day

  May 14, 2016 — St. Albans, Kanawha

  May 14, 2016, St. Albans Founders Day

  St. Albans (395-0155) www.stalbanshistory.com
• Little Lecture: The Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky

  May 15, 2016 — Charleston, Kanawha WVHC Event

  Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill is a National Historic Landmark located in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Jill Malusky shares the story of how Shaker missionaries established the successful communal society on the western frontier with amazing craftsmanship, architecture, and radically different social ideals. Since the passing of the last Sister in 1923, preservation efforts have created one of the largest historic sites of its kind in the country.

  The Little Lectures are informal programs featuring speakers on a variety of topics. Programs are presented on Sunday afternoons at 2:00 p.m. at our headquarters located at 1310 Kanawha Boulevard, East, Charleston, in the parlor of MacFarland-Hubbard House. The series is one of the many ways the Humanities Council shares our historic property with the community. Seating is limited (thus “Little” Lectures) and reservations are suggested. Admission is $10 per person and includes refreshments after the lecture. Call Mark Payne at 304.346.8500 or email payne@wvhumanities.org for further information.

  http://wvhumanities.org/programs/little-lectures/
• Archives and History Thursday Lecture: "Rocking the Kanawha"

  May 19, 2016 — Charleston, Kanawha

  On Thursday, May 19, 2016, musician and historian Terry Lowry will present “Rocking the Kanawha: The Golden Age of Music in the Kanawha Valley” in the Archives and History Library of the Culture Center in Charleston. The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

  Long before Mountain Stage, the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, the Clay Center, or many of the other musical outlets of present-day Charleston and the Kanawha Valley, there was an approximately ten-year period from 1964 to 1974 that has become known as the “Golden Age” of Charleston and the Kanawha Valley music. During that period the area flourished with outstanding local musicians, a wide array of clubs and venues, and a fan base that has never been equaled since. It was these musicians and the environment in which they performed that made them pioneers in opening many doors to future local musicians and paving the way for such stellar projects as Mountain Stage.

  Beginning in 1964 with soul bands, such as the original Esquires (with singer Bobby Lanham), the King Sound Interpreters (with Curtis Price), The Barons, The Seven Seas, The Rooks, recording artist Turley Richards, and others, and continuing through the hippie-era bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s, such as Heavy Rain (and their legendary guitarist Randall Wray), Quiet (with Tom Benson), The Bristols, The Mojos, and national recording artists The Mind Garage, the area seethed with musical creativity and diversity. Clubs were continually packed, outdoor festivals (such as the classic ones at Kanawha State Forest and Ona) drew thousands of fans, musical creativity was at an all-time high, and numerous national recording acts played Charleston, including Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Lowry will take attendees on a journey through Charleston rock and roll and describe how these musical pioneers set the stage for those who followed.

  Terry Lowry is a 50-year veteran guitarist of the Charleston music scene and has performed or jammed with nearly every musician of the “Golden Age” as well as many since. He founded and edited Charleston’s first rock music “fanzine” called “The Kanawha Rocker,” was music critic for the Charleston Gazette from the late 1960s to 1979, and met and interviewed name artists from Hendrix to Canned Heat to Lou Gramm of Foreigner. Lowry has attended over 1,000 concerts and currently performs with Charleston’s Diablo Blues Band. Today, many people know him better as the author of numerous books on the Civil War in West Virginia.

  Participants may park behind the Culture Center after 5:00 p.m. on May 19 and enter the building at the back loading dock area. There also is limited handicapped parking available in the new bus turnaround.

  For additional information, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230.
• Symphonie Fantastique, French Festival, Fuchs, and Biegel

  May 20, 2016 — Wheeling, Ohio

  Symphonie Fantastique, French Festival, Fuchs, and Biegel

  8:00PM May 20 at the Capitol Theatre in Wheeling

  This French inspired program connects various arts disciplines. The highlight of this concert is the co-commissioned Piano Concerto by Kenneth Fuchs written for Jeffrey Biegel. Mr. Fuchs was commissioned by the Wheeling Symphony to write Forever Free for West Virginia’s Sesquicentennial. The concert opens with Chabrier’s playful Joyeuse Marche while thoughts of love abound in Faure’s Pelléas et Mélisande. Continuing the theme of love, Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique will close the program and end the 2015-16 Season with tremendous power!

  http://www.wheelingsymphony.com/
• Creators Presents: Memories of the Valley- Festivall Oral Histories

  May 26, 2016 — Charleston, Kanawha

  For FestivALL 2015, local author and documentarian Eric Douglas captured dozens of oral histories from Charleston and Kanawha Valley residents. Excerpts from these recordings make up the presentation “Memories of the Valley” on Thursday, May 26 at 7:15 pm at the West Virginia State University Economic Development Center for Memorial Day and as part of the pre-FestivALL activities.

  Thursday, May 26, 2016 from 7:15 PM to 9:00 PM (EDT)

  WVSU EDC – 1506 Kanawha Blvd W Charleston, WV 25312

  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creators-presents-memories-of-the-valley-festivall-oral-histories-tickets-20567389616
• West Virginia Three Rivers Festival

  May 26, 2016 to May 28, 2016 — Fairmont, Marion

  West Virginia Three Rivers Festival, May 26 – 28, 2016, in Fairmont.

  The Festival officially opens on Thursday, May 26th with the start of the Grande Feature Parade followed by the Opening Ceremonies at Palatine Park in Downtown Fairmont. Following this are three days of fun-filled activities for the whole family. Please come and enjoy the live entertainment, carnival, parade, fantastic food and a gigantic fireworks display to finish it all off.

  http://wvthreeriversfestival.org/
• Webster County Woodchopping Festival

  May 26, 2016 to May 29, 2016 — Webster Springs, Webster

  Each Memorial Day weekend, the Southern U.S. World Championship Woodchopper title is won at the annual Webster County Woodchopping Festival in Webster Springs, WV. The festival has grown out of a long timbering heritage from which has come some of the finest woodchoppers and lumbermen in the world. The choppers come from as near as the scenic mountains of Webster County and as far away as Australia and New Zealand to compete.

  May 26-29, 2016

  http://www.visitwebsterwv.com/event/webster-county-woodchopping-festival/
• Archives and History Block Speaker Series: Joseph E. Turner

  May 26, 2016 — Charleston, Kanawha

  On Thursday, May 26, 2016, Major General (Retired) Joseph E. Turner will present “African American Life: A Personal Perspective” in the Archives and History Library in the Culture Center in Charleston. The program, which is the first of the 2016 The Block Speakers Series, will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

  Turner is a native of Charleston and the son of the late Sargent Joseph Turner and Annetta Ellis. He attended Boyd Elementary and Junior High schools and graduated in 1956 from Garnet High School. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in mathematics from West Virginia State College.

  General Turner began his military career in 1961 as a second lieutenant commissioned in the Signal Corps through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). He has held many command and staff positions prior to his assignment as the commander of 335th Theater Signal Command. He served two combat duties in Vietnam, the first tour as an aviator, 17th Aviation Company, and the second as commander, HHC, 210th Combat Aviation Battalion , 1st Aviation Brigade, in Long Thanh, South Vietnam. Turner has received many awards and decorations including the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), Meritorious Service Medal (with two Oak Leaf Clusters), Army Achievement Medal, and the Air Medal (with 10 Oak Leaf Clusters).

  In his civilian life Turner was a commercial airline pilot employed by Delta Airlines flying the Los Angeles, California/Honolulu, Hawaii, route and return. Turner is married to the former Norma J. Sims, and they have three sons (Dr. Alan T. Turner, Brian D. Turner and Joseph E. Turner Jr.) and eight grandchildren.

  Participants may park behind the Culture Center after 5:00 p.m. on May 26 and enter the building at the back loading dock area. There also is limited handicapped parking available in the new bus turnaround.

  For additional information, call (304) 558-0230.
• FestivALL

  May 27, 2016 to May 29, 2016 — Charleston, Kanawha

  Partnering with over 60 arts and community organizations and hundreds of local, regional, national and international artists each year, FestivALL, a 501©(3) nonprofit organization, is considered a premiere arts collaborator of Charleston, West Virginia. FestivALL is city-wide and multi-arts and serves its mission through its 10-day June FestivALL, an October weekend FestivALL Fall and other programming throughout the year. Each year FestivALL includes over 130 events and 360 performances and exhibitions from music, theatre, dance, visual art, humanities and more. Many events are free or low cost and are designed with a little bit of something for everyone.

  For 2016, a weekend preview takes place May 27-29, then the 10-day FestivALL runs June 17-27. For the full schedule visit http://www.festivallcharleston.com/
• Artspring

  May 27, 2016 to May 29, 2016 — Davis, Tucker

  A Memorial-Day-Weekend tour of Tucker County: an opportunity for visitors and residents alike to see the arts communities unite in a collective effort to show just how dynamic and extensive the presence of the arts are in our county. May 27-29. http://www.artspringwv.com/
• 40th Vandalia Gathering

  May 27, 2016 to May 29, 2016 — Charleston, Kanawha

  Annual celebration of the traditional arts, music, dance, stories, crafts and food of West Virginia. Join us every Memorial Day weekend, Friday through Sunday.

  May 27-29, 2016. http://www.wvculture.org/vandalia/