West Virginia culture is a captivating blend of rich Appalachian traditions and vibrant high culture infused with the jazz of surrounding U.S. cities like Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. The state is renowned for its deep-rooted Appalachian heritage, which is showcased through folk music, storytelling, and traditional crafts such as quilting and woodcarving. Visitors can experience this authentic culture at local festivals and heritage museums throughout the Mountain State. At the same time, West Virginia also embraces high culture, with world-class performances at the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, acclaimed theater productions at the Greenbrier Valley Theatre, and art exhibitions at the Huntington Museum of Art. This unique mix of mountain traditions and refined artistic offerings makes West Virginia a true cultural gem in the heart of Appalachia.
The new Fallout 76 video game — to be released by Bethesda Softworks on November 14, 2018 — might have been set in Pennsylvania rather than West Virginia. However, one of the game’s developers says he found West Virginia’s landscape more alluring. “We were considering either West Virginia or Pennsylvania, but I decided I liked … Read more
Born into relative obscurity in the valley of the Greenbrier River in Alderson, West Virginia, Ada “Bricktop” Smith became one of the world’s most iconic personalities of the Jazz era, a singer, dancer, and the owner of clubs in Rome, Paris, and Mexico City. In October and November, her story is brought to life in … Read more
Editor’s note: the fourth installment in John Barton’s examination of a map of the soon-to-be-released Fallout 76 video game investigates The Ash Heap region, which draws on the bloody history of mining and industrialism in West Virginia’s coalfields. The southwestern area on the Fallout 76 map, “The Ash Heap” — with its blackened appearance and … Read more
Mothman isn’t just any West Virginia monster, says David Sibray, publisher of West Virginia Explorer, who contends the beast that’s alleged to have haunted the hills near Point Pleasant may play a remarkable role in the upcoming Fallout 76 video game. “Of the five monsters we cover at West Virginia Explorer, all of which seem … Read more
WVGhosts.com, a website that archives paranormal encounters from throughout West Virginia, announced today the launch of its 2018 Halloween attractions directory for the Mountain State. The directory includes kid-friendly venues as well as attractions that could cause adults to have nightmares, according to Jonathan Moore, founder of West Virginia Ghosts. “We currently cover 28 venues hosting … Read more
West Virginans love their lore, so it should be no surprise on this most-monstrous-of-weekends that the crowd at the double-feature at The Elk in rural Granny Creek near Flatwoods, WV[/caption] “Right now, I’m expecting at least 200 people to attend the double feature, possibly more. It seemed fitting to show these films on the closest … Read more
The 2018 Culturefest World Music & Arts Festival will awaken musical magic again in the Pipestem highlands near Athens in southern West Virginia Sept. 6-9. As many as a thousand fans of world music and the arts are expected to attend the 15th annual festival being celebrated at the Appalachian South Folklife Center near Pipestem Resort … Read more
Do you believe in monsters? David Sibray hasn’t come clean on whether he does but admits the legend of the Grafton Monster of northern West Virginia is a subject that deserves investigation, at least where folklore is concerned. West Virginia Explorer has released the third in a series of video interviews that regard the lore … Read more
I hardly remember a time when the U.S. 19 expressway didn’t climb Powell Mountain on its journey between Sutton and Beckley in southern West Virginia. Raised in Beckley by parents who hailed from the Monongahela Valley, I spent countless hours on the route visiting grandparents, and later, while attending West Virginia University, spent many more … Read more
Rural and mountainous, West Virginia is home to some of the most star-spangled skies in the eastern U.S. — a circumstance of which photographer Jesse Thornton has made good use. https://wvexplorer.com/2018/08/17/west-virginia-night-jesse-thornton/2/h Seen from the top of Seneca Rocks, car lights trace US-33 and WV-55 through the vale of the North Fork of the South Branch … Read more
