Harvest Moon Fest features new photo contest

Hot Springs, Va. –
Bath County’s second annual Harvest Moon Festival is coming up on Saturday, September 22. There’s a new addition to the festival this year, a photo contest called Picture This. If you have a creative eye, this is your chance to show your talent and the beauty of Bath.

Maggie Anderson is Bath County’s Tourism Director.

“We decided to do this contest for a couple of reasons,” says Anderson. “Number one, we need lots of photos for all of the things that we use to promote the county, whether it’s a brochure, the website, Facebook. And there’s no better way to tell the story about Bath County than through the eyes of the people who live here, because we all love certain things about Bath County. And we felt that if you lived here and you had a camera and you saw something you loved, that picture was going to be extra special. Much more special than if a photographer came in and just took the shot. So we figured the best way to sell Bath County is through the eyes of the people who live here, and that’s why we came up with the contest.”

The contest features six photo categories and there will be a winner in each, plus a grand prize winner. The grand prize winner will receive $250 and the first prize winners in each category will receive $50. Winners will be announced at 3 o’clock at the Farmers Market in downtown Hot Springs during the festival on September 22.

“There’s six ways to win, six ways to enter,” says Anderson. “You can take pictures of arts and culture. You can go to the art galleries and see what’s there. Or go to the farmer’s market and take pictures of some of the art that’s there. You can go to one of the restaurants and take a picture of a hamburger if you want to. That’s one of the categories, culinary flavors. We’ve got special events, so if you were up at Wings and Wheels or you were at the Garth Newel Blues and Jazz Festival and you took some great shots, you can enter. Places to go here in town, outdoor recreation and scenic beauty are all of the categories.”

All photos submitted for the contest will eventually appear on the Bath website and on Bath’s Facebook page. Winning entries will be on display at the Farmers Market during Harvest Moon.

“The way you enter is electronically,” says Anderson. “You’re going to submit your photos to us online. And once you do participate, and that means you have to fill out the forms, the photos will belong to Bath County Tourism. Now the nice part about this is that we’re going to use your photos on Facebook, we’re going to use your photos in possible commercials on television and we’ll use some of your photos in print ads. But the beauty of it is we’re going to use your photos, so this is going to be an exciting opportunity for you to show the world what you love about Bath County.”

To learn more about the PictureThis photo contest visit the website discoverbath.com/photocontest or contact Maggie Anderson at 540-839-7202.