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.
On June 16, 1964, hell broke loose in Grafton, West Virginia, a sleepy town on the Tygart Valley River. Excitement here normally came by railroad rather than lurching out of the forest. Though the Grafton Monster, or “Beast of Grafton,” as it came to be called, left not so much as a footprint, folks still … Read more
Fallout from the announced release of the “Fallout 76” West Virginia-based video game is driving record traffic to West Virginia Explorer, according to its publisher. The post-apoclyptic game set in West Virginia features many of the landmarks and characters about which the guide has published. “Our advertisers should certainly be happy that we’re driving numbers … Read more
In time for Christmas 2018, Bethesda it will unleash “Fallout 76,” a video game of enormous proportions that appears to be entirely centered in a post-apocalyptic West Virginia set in the 2076. The trailer for the video begins to pay homage to the Mountain State from the state, invoking the state song “Country Roads, Take … Read more
If you own or manage a West Virginia business associated with travel and tourism, look no further than West Virginia Explorer. Our $200 business spotlight provides you a feature story crafted by journalists and published at WVExplorer.com. “We saw immediate results,” said Joyce Brenemen of The Depot Produce & More, in Oak Hill. “They figured … Read more
PICKLE STREET, W.Va. — Of all the odd community names in West Virginia, “Pickle Street” must rank among the oddest. Why this hamlet in Lewis County bears the name “pickle” is as much a mystery as why it is termed “street.” There is little street-like about rural US-119, which wanders the valley of Leading Creek … Read more
To raise money for a March 31 children’s egg hunt, organizers in Fayetteville, West Virginia, will host a glow-in-the-dark egg hunt for adults on March 24. Given the community’s penchant for the uncoventional, the event should be an enormous success, and 100 participants as well as spectators are already expected, says Tabitha Stover, executive director … Read more
Singer, songwriter, and record producer Vladimir John Ondrasik III, known by his stage name Five for Fighting, will perform Thursday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m. at the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center in Huntington, W.Va. Presented by Cabell Huntington Hospital, the Grammy-nominated Ondrasik, perhaps best known for his hits “What If,” “100 Years,” “The Riddle, and … Read more
Lewisburg may seem a world away from New York City, but its arts scene is not so far removed. The Greenbrier Valley Theatre today announced its schedule of live Metropolitan Opera broadcasts for 2018-2019, to be transmitted in real time to the theater Saturday afternoons. Each high-definition transmission from the Met will be introduced by … Read more
The annual Jackson’s Mill Jubilee at historic Jackson’s Mill, West Virginia, will feature a new layout in 2018, a spokesman for the organization announced, also addressing rumors that the event had been cancelled. The festival, which attracts 10,000 visitors to historic Jackson’s Mill near Weston, in Lewis County, is one of three celebrations that bring … Read more
Of more than 400 artifacts collected in this museum of the paranormal in West Virginia’s “city of the dead,” one is attracting more attention than all others, though curators are at a loss to explain why. “You can see why the lost execution-cap from the penitentiary’s electric chair is popular,” says Steve Hummel, referring to … Read more
