Fayetteville is coming to life with lots of fun festivals and events as we kick off the spring season. Enjoy guided hikes and workshops with the National Park’s Spring Nature Fling. Vintage in the Ville is back on Earth Day along with the Great Gorge Gear and Yard Sale. Love Hope Center for the Arts will have multiple exhibits on display throughout the spring and the Ramp Festival is right around the corner!
New River Gorge National Park’s Spring Nature Fling
April – mid May
Discover natures wonders throughout southern West Virginia this spring! Join Park rangers and naturalists for free guides hikes, enjoy regional art exhibits, and take part in nature workshops this season.
Vintage in the Ville
Saturday, April 22
11am-8pm at the Fayetteville Memorial Building
Vintage in the Ville is back with another killer vintage event in downtown Fayetteville on April 22nd!
This event with have 20+ vintage clothing, local art, jewelry, and antiques vendors all housed in the easy to locate Memorial Building in Fayetteville WV, heart of the New River Gorge National Park.
The event will kick off at 11 am and will be free to the public! Stop by with your friends and family and browse the vendors curations and make sure to enter the T-shirt raffle! All proceeds from the raffle will be donated to the Humane Society in Oak Hill to help with housing and taking care of the puppies and kittens!
Any vendors looking to sign up for the event please message @veryrarevintagestore on either Facebook or instagram for details.
Great Gorge Gear and Garage
April 22, 23
9am-4pm Gaines Estate
The Great Gorge Gear & Yard Sale is a two-day community yard sale which will take place on April 22 & April 23 from 9AM-4PM at The Gaines Estate.
VENDOR FEE: 1 DAY: $15 | 2 DAYS: $25
To become a vendor, please call (304) 382-7509.
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Friends of New River Gorge.
New River Birding Festival
May 1-6
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 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. Our bird and nature watching festival highlights more than 100 bird species on a variety of daily birding tours.
Ramp it up Festival Ace
RAMP IT UP FESTIVAL
Saturday, May 6
The fourth Annual Ramp Festival in the Lost Paddle at ACE Adventure Resort celebrates a regional culinary delicacy and the coming of Spring in the West Virginia Mountains. Join us for a ramp focused dining experience including traditional ramp dishes and contemporary ramp explorations. Menu items to include Wood Fired Ramp & Potato Pizza, Ramp O’roni Rolls, Ramp Quiche, Ramp Meatloaf & more. Plus live music featuring Into the Fog and Andrew Adkins. Tickets include all you can eat ramp buffet dinner.
Spring Foraging Hike Lead by Mitchell Dech
Sunday, May 7
9am-12pm
Join us on a Foraging Hike as part of the National Park Services Spring Fling Nature Festival
West Virginia and the Appalachian Mountains are a forager’s paradise. Spring is the perfect time to learn about the skills involved in foraging for wild food. Discover the delicacies that can be found in the woods. Roots, tubers, and shoots, greens, buds, and flowers are among the various plant structures that are available for harvesting. Follow a local legend the “Berry Man” Mitchell Dech as he leads our educational foraging hike. This event will be hands-on exploring to discover, discuss, and learn about edible plants in their habitats. Come prepared with comfortable shoes for moderate hiking 2miles.
New River Gorge Festival at ACE Adventure Resort
New River Gorge Festival is coming back to ACE Adventure Resort May 12th – 14th and we are super excited to show off this wild and wonderful outdoor recreation paradise. This event is all about getting folks just like you outside and on an adventure, especially those little explorers. Bring the whole family for opportunities to participate in rock climbing, stand up paddle boarding, whitewater kayaking and more though our Adventure Zones. Plus paddlers from across the region will be competing on the river at the Rolling Rodeo Competition and New River Gorge Race Saturday afternoon. Throw in some camping, live music, tasty food, good friends and you got a recipe for an epic festival weekend this Spring!
Spring Art Exhibits at the Love Hope Center for the Arts
“Akin” Opening Reception for the New River Gorge Creative Residents Exhibit
3/18-4/16 Jamie Lester Solo Exhibition
3/31 “Akin” Opening Reception for the New River Gorge Creative Residents Exhibit
4/22-6/11 “Tiny City Works” Artists of Thomas WV
6/17-8/6 “Visual Symphonic Metaphors” Exhibition
May 20 Opening Reception for Ronny Ashmore & Cara Ashmore
Races
Run the Summit with Active Southern West Virginia
Saturday, April 8
Join us in the heart of Appalachia at the Summit Bechtel Reserve to experience running West Virginia’s wild and wonderful terrain. This 10,000 acre reserve has robust wilderness and resort facilities to offer a unique race-cation on the boarder of the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. Choose your distance and plan to spend the weekend in the area with add on adventure activities and lodging recommendations.
Babcock Gristmill Grinder
Saturday, April 22
Kick of spring with a half-marathon trail run at Babcock State Park in West Virginia. Enjoy spectacular overlooks, rhododendron tunnels, waterfalls, cliffs, bridges and amazing scenery participating in this iconic race.
Falling Water 100k
Saturday, April 29
Like each Rim to River Endurance Co. race before it, the Falling Water 100K looks to bring something new & uniquely its own to ultra running in the New River Gorge. This course consists of 4 x 15.5 mile loops on the amazing trails at ACE Adventure Resort & dropping into New River Gorge National Park. The route incorporates the two main creeks in the area, Rush Run & Arbuckle. Run next to a multitude of waterfalls, along the banks of the New River, and test your rock-hopping skills at the picturesque Arbuckle Creek crossing. Views abound as each loop touts 2,400’ of elevation gain and loss. Run some of the same trails from the Rim to River 100 & Cabin Fever 50K while also getting on some brand new section.
New River Rim to Rim 10k with Active Southern WV
Saturday, May 6
The New River Gorge Rim to Rim Race is a 6 mile running road race from one side of the New River Gorge to the other. This bucket list event will provide runners with breathtaking views throughout the course in Fayetteville, the adventure sports capital of West Virginia. Hosted by Adventures on the Gorge, racers will have access to resort amenities and finish at the rim-side pool with a catered brunch.
This event is family-friendly. You don’t need to bring a dance partner. And no experience necessary. Come as you are!
Snacks available at the concession stand.
$10 CASH at the door! Kids attend for free. (If you don’t have the cash, come anyway.)
