From mushrooms to Elvis

by Anna Barron Billingsley

Every spring, 74-year-old Paul Goland, a mushroom vendor from Franklin, West Virginia, makes the trek to Front Royal to participate in the state's only ode to the mushroom. This year's 16th annual Wine and Mushroom festival on May 18 will be no different. Goland, who operates Hardscrabble Enterprises Inc. returns each year for a simple reason: it's a great place to do business. While festival goers frolic, Goland sells Shittake logs, dishes out samples of mushroom soup, peddles books and posters on mushrooms and even recruits members for a regional mushroom fan club known as the Mycological Association of Washington, D.C.

Front Royal's annual salute to the mushroom is but one of the offerings in Virginia's diverse array of late spring and early summer festivals. From Abingdon to Accomac, weekends - and an increasing number of weekdays - will be punctuated by the aroma of grilled sausage and simmering onions, the twangs of bluegrass or beach music and the sight of craftsmen, clowns and cultural displays. Regardless of the means or the theme, the message seems to be the same: We've survived winter; let's go outside and play.

The state tourism web site includes hundreds of listings under the category of "festivals, fairs and parades." Many, like the Virginia Wine and Mushroom Festival, started on a lark and a small scale. Originally, Front Royal's festival was designed to venerate the lowly mushroom, grown by many local farmers. But as local supply dwindled, wine has taken over as the festival's main course with as many as 18 Virginia wine vendors offering samples of their products to wash down Caribbean mushroom chowder and portabella mushroom sandwiches. Last year, the Wine and Mushroom Festival occupied the entire downtown area and drew about 15,000 people. "I wouldn't miss it," says George Goldman, who invites out-of-state relatives to the festival. "People have a good old time."

A month later and several hundred miles southwest, the small town of Norton puts on a weeklong Best Friends Festival that concludes on Father's Day. Residents and visitors alike sprawl on the grounds of the city park listening to bluegrass, gospel and karaoke emanating from a central gazebo. A highlight of the festival - billed as an opportunity to "meet old friends and make new ones while enjoying arts, crafts, food, games and music" - has been its Mardis Gras celebration, says Joyce Payne, executive director of the Wise County Chamber of Commerce.

A highlight - literally - of Virginia Beach's Viva Elvis Festival, now in its eighth year, is the sight of Elvis look-alikes falling through the sky. The Skydiving Kings put on an air show during this three-day tribute to the "King," which also features Jerry Presley, the King's cousin; Elvis memorabilia and some of the crooner's favorite foods. The event takes place on the Virginia Beach Boardwalk May 31 through June 2.

If the King's cuisine doesn't appeal to your palate, there are many other festivals centered on food. The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival May 1 through 5 in Winchester celebrates Virginia's apple-growing industry, and there are many varieties to try along with music, a parade and the crowning of the festival queen. The Hanover Tomato Festival in Mechanicsville on July 6 draws people from all over the state who revel in the taste of the succulent tomatoes. There's even an event celebrating what many people would like to avoid: the reek ramp, a pungent member of the leek family that grows in the wild. The Whitetop Mountain Ramp Festival, to be held May 19, features a ramp-eating contest.Other festivals that will get you outdoors:

May 11-19, Damascus
APPALACHIAN TRAIL DAYS FESTIVAL. Each year in early March hundreds of hikers leave Springer Mountain, Ga., to start the 2,200-mile walk to Maine. By mid-May they have reached Damascus, which offers them not only a respite, but also food, a town-wide yard sale, music, crafts, a parade and a hiker's talent show. www.traildays.com.

May 18-19, McLean
18TH-CENTURY MARKET FAIR. Bob for apples, play quoits and other children's games. Dine on fresh corn or asparagus, roast chicken, sausages or bread, lemonade, sugar cakes. Claude Moore Colonial Farm, 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (703) 442-7557, (703) 847-0710. www.1771.org.

June 21-23, Quicksburg
SECOND ANNUAL SHENANDOAH VALLEY POWWOW. A weekend of singing, dancing and socializing featuring 26 Native American crafters, fry bread and Indian tacos. Silver Phoenix Indian Trading Post. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. (540) 477-9616.

For more details on these and other festivals, check the state's complete listing at www.virginia.org.

Return to Virginia Business - May 2002